The Perfect Boyfriend
by Alltheabove
Summary: Miley's dad is gone, and the family is going under. The only person Miley has, is Nick. And now, she's taking over a job, that might not be very safe. Niley. Rated T just in case.
1. Chapter 1

**The Perfect Boyfriend**

**Chapter One**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

_When she stares at your mouth…  
Kiss her_

"Maybe you should just leave" Miley's mom replied calmly to her husbands words, she was sick of everything, and finding him with another woman in her own house was enough to tick her off to the end

"Honey" she cut him off right there

"I don't want to hear it Robby Ray, leave, now" she was amazed at how calm she could be in a situation like this, maybe because she knew it was coming and she was prepared

"Fine, don't come crawling back to me though when you need money to support the kids" he barges out of the house after claiming his last words and Miley sobs quietly at the top of the stairs when she hears the sound of her dad's vehicle starting, then driving away.

Miley watches as her mom collapses on the carpeted floor in the living room, crying into her hands and screaming "Why?" every few seconds. She runs down the stairs, rubbing her mom's back and trying to calm her down with soothing words "It's going to be okay Mom, we don't need him" Miley knows that her Dad is the support system on the family, the person everyone turns to in financial need or help and she knows that it's going to be rough without him there. So she decides that she's going to need to find a job as soon as she can, so it'll be easier on her mom.

"I know sweetie, we'll make it through" her mom rubs her cheek with her thumb, trying to stop the tears from leaking through her eyes

"I love you mom" Miley kisses her mom's forehead and pulls her into a hug "I love you too Smiley" she kisses the top of her daughter's head and pats her back lightly.

"I'm going to fix some dinner, what do you want?" she shrugs her shoulders

"Anything is fine" her mom nods and walks off into the kitchen.

Miley sighs and walks up to her room, she notices how quiet the house is already, she thinks to herself 'On the bright side, I won't have to hear all the fighting anymore' she enters her bedroom doors and flops down on her bed, the cushion adjusting to her weight. She grabs her phone off the nightstand and dials a familiar number.

The phone rings twice, only two times, before the line is connected and Miley is talking to her personal support system.

"Miles?" she smiles at the sound of his voice.

"Hey Nicky" she picks at the hem of her camisole, waiting for him to reply.

"What's up?" normally, this is how their conversations always start out, it's just them talking casually, trying to find out why the other called, maybe something's wrong, or maybe one just wants to talk to the other.

"Can you come over?" she doesn't need to reply to his question, he doesn't really need to know what's up, at least not yet.

"Sure, I'll be over in about five minutes" she mumbles 'thanks' and shuts her phone, placing it back on its spot on the nightstand.

Exactly three minutes later she hears the doorbell ring from downstairs, then her mom's feet shuffle across the floor until she's in front of the door, Miley imagines her mom wiping off her clothes and then putting on a fake smile and opening the door

"Well, hello there Nicholas" Miley grins.

"Hey Tish, is Miley upstairs?" her mom quietly answers and Miley hears the door shut, and more shuffles of feet.

"Knock, Knock" she smiles and looks toward the door, Nick walks through the open door, taking a seat at the edge of her bed, close to her feet. He rubs her toes, looking up at her with worried eyes.

"What's wrong Miles?" she sighs.

"How do you know something is wrong?" he gives her a knowing look.

"The vibe" she laughs and he joins in, then he stops and looks at her seriously, still rubbing her feet.

"Seriously Miley, what's wrong" she sits up in the bed, pulling her feet out of his hands, he inches closer so that he's sitting beside her on the bed, he wraps his arms around her petite body and kisses the top of her head.

"Dad's gone" his face goes blank, he knew that there was trouble in the Stewart household but he never imagined one of them would actually leave.

"Well, actually, mom told him to leave" he hugs her tighter, knowing that this has to be killing her; she loves her dad more than anything.

She carefully tells him the whole story, starting from the beginning when her mom walked into the living room, coming home from a hard day at work and seeing her own husband kissing some blond on her couch, she tells him how she'd been watching the whole thing from the top of the stairs but didn't know what to say so she let them continue their make out session.

"It was horrible Nicky, I had to sit there and watch him cheat on Mommy and there was nothing I could do, this is all my fault, I should have stopped them" tears flow from her eyes, leaving a trail behind on her cheeks, she pushes her head into his chest and allows the smell of his Axe cologne to soothe her.

"No it's not baby, it's not your fault" his hand makes circles on her back, as he kisses her head every few seconds.

"Dinner's ready!" Tish yells up the stairs, and Miley's head flies up from Nick's chest

"Crap" she jumps up from the bed and goes over to her vanity, wiping off all the smeared makeup and applying some fresh eye liner and mascara

"Does it look like I've been crying?" she turns her head toward Nick, realizing that he is standing to her right, laughing as she worries about her looks.

"You look beautiful" she sighs

"That's not what I asked, does it look like I've been crying?" he kisses her forehead

"No, it doesn't look like you've been crying" she looks in the mirror one more time anyways and then gets up from her vanity chair, latching her fingers with Nick's.

They walk down the stairway, and then into the kitchen, smelling the delicious smell of Tish's cooking.

"It smells wonderful Mom" Miley takes her usually seat at the dinner table, Nick taking the seat beside her.

Brandi, Miley's older sister, bounces down the stairs, taking her seat and putting food on her plate. Miley glances over at her sister, noticing her red rimmed eyes 'Mom must have told her' she thinks to herself, while sticking her fork into the food on her plate.

Forks clatter against the material of the plates, everyone around the dining table at loss for words, really what is there to talk about?

Eventually, dinner ends, still no words have been said and no words will be said at the dinner table, for a long time to come. Brandi pushes her chair back, looking absently ahead of her as she tromps up the stairs; Miley watches her go, sighing at the sadness of her sister. Minutes later, Nick takes Miley's hand and takes her upstairs, leaving her mother sitting at the table by herself, her head in her hands as she curses herself, trying to figure out where she went wrong in her marriage.

Meanwhile upstairs in Miley's bedroom, the teenage girl runs her hand through her hair, sighing as she shuts the door. Nick wraps his arms around his girlfriend, whispering softly in her ear that everything is alright. Miley sighs again as she her eyes fill up with salty tears.

"We're broken" he shakes his head no, kissing her softly on her neck.

"No you're not, you all are just fine" her head falls, her eyes boring into the floor.

"What are we going to do? We don't have enough money anymore Nick? We're going to go bankrupt, then what?" she turns around in his arms, tears falling down her cheeks; slowly he wipes the tears away, replacing the trail of tears with a trail of kisses.

"Calm down sweetie, everything's going to be okay, we can help you with the financial problems" this causes her to cry even more.

"I don't want to use your money, it would feel wrong" Nick walks her over to her bed and sits her down, then he sits down next to her, placing his hand behind her neck, as he massages the tense spot with ease. He tries to break away from the money issue, kissing her forehead and smiling down at her.

"I love you Miley" she smiles back at him.

"I love you too" her eyes stare into his and his smile grows wider, slowly, he watches her eyes move down to his lips, staying there until he finally makes the move and connects their lips together. Their lips move with ease, their arms wrapped around one another, they know that this is where they belong, with each other.

**A/n: The chapters aren't as long as they were in Bleeding Loner?, none of them are. All the chapters are going to be around this length. I'm sorry, it just doesn't work out if they're any longer. Tell me if you like it, because I've been hesitant about posting this for a while now, tell the complete honest truth and if enough people want me to write this, I will.**

**Thanks. I hope you like it, and review, lots =)**


	2. Chapter 2

The Perfect Boyfriend

Chapter Two

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

**A/n: I didn't get as many reviews at I wanted, but I'm going to post this anyways. Read the bottom note.**

_When she pushes you or hits you because she thinks she's stronger than you…_

_Grab her and don't let go_

Two weeks later and there still was no sign from the father of the Stewart's. Miley was growing weaker but she stayed strong in front of other people so they couldn't see thorough the shield. Because then she really would be weak, she would be defeated.

Brandi was still mope-y, not trying to hide her sadness and their mom was just trying to keep food on the table and the bills paid.

**-xoxo-**

Miley Stewart walks to school, head hung low and books pressed tightly against her chest. You can slowly watch her fingertips grow white as she grips onto the books, trying not to let any tears fall. When the urge to cry passes, her fingertips go back to their normal color as she releases her grip on the books. This has been her routine when she is walking to school everyday since her dad left.

She looks up when she arrives at Sea View High and sighs, today was going to be rough, everyday was rough for her, there was no way that this day would be an exception, not unless her dad showed up. Her feet slide across the ground as she enters the school doors; she looks around slightly and then allows her head to fall, once again looking at the ground. Her feet move quickly as she walks to her locker, when she's there, she looks up again, dialing in the combination and swinging the door open. She puts the books from her hands in the metal container and replaces them with other books that she needs for her morning classes.

"Good morning" muscular arms wrap around her torso and she slowly relaxes and turns around in his arms.

"Good morning Nicky" he leans down and kisses her forehead, softly tracing circles on her cheek with his thumb.

"You look sad" she quickly looks away, putting on her fake smile and then turning back toward him.

"I'm not" she hugs him slightly and he moves his arms down to her neck, massaging the tense areas with ease, she relaxes more. She sighs when the warning bell rings and signifies that if they don't leave for class now, they're going to be late.

"I love you Smiles, stay strong okay, I'll see you at lunch" he kisses her lips softly and walks away, books in hand toward his first class. She swings her books down to her side and walks in the opposite direction to her class.

**lunch.**

All the kids who have lunch first pile into the cafeteria, walking over to the station where they retrieve the food that they want onto a tray, and then sliding the tray down the metal bars until they reach the cash register, where they pay for the food that they're taking.

Miley Stewart doesn't walk down the line; instead she takes a seat at her usual table and starts reading a book, waiting for her boyfriend and other friends to join her. She doesn't buy lunch anymore, instead she saves up the money her mom gives her in the morning and then gives it back to her when the bills are due, claiming that she got the money from mowing lawns or babysitting, which she now does also, in her spare time.

Nick comes over to the table, a tray piled high with food, he sits down beside Miley, scooting the tray in the middle of him and Miley.

"Would you like some of my food? I got extra." Miley doesn't attempt to put on her fake smile, she just sighs and shakes her head no.

"Miley come on, you haven't ate very much in the last few weeks, you're getting drastically skinnier, you need to eat" she takes a single fry from his plate, dips it in a little bit of ketchup and places it in her mouth, chomping on it until its fully chewed and then she swallows.

"Happy?" she looks back down at her book, avoiding his glare. He bites his tongue, trying not to yell at her.

"Yeah" he starts to eat at his food, still keeping the tray in between them, hoping that she'll want some and eat some more.

No such luck, Miley doesn't eat anything else the rest of lunch, and she doesn't talk anymore either, she just keeps her nose in the book that she's reading and when the bell rings, signaling that lunch break is over and it's time to head back to class, she just shuts the book, pushing it back into her purse and walks out, leaving everyone else at the lunch table to look at her back with confused faces.

"What's wrong with her?" Nick doesn't speak, he knows that Miley has yet to inform her friends about the situation with her dad, but her acting like this has got to end soon, it's driving him insane and worrying everyone around her.

**later that night at miley's house.**

The house is like it's been every night since the dad of the family left, silent and depressing. Tish is downstairs in the kitchen, cooking a small dinner for her family; small is all they can afford right now if they want to be able to pay the bills. Miley is upstairs in her room, listening to her iPod and reading a book, or at least trying to read a book, the music keeps distracting her. Brandi is in the room next to her, sitting on her bed, elbows on her knees and head in her hands. She's found a job, if you can even call it a job, it's not the best thing to do ever but it's going to help pay and that's all that matters.

Every once in a while a single tear will drop from one of the girl's eyes, they're all alone, and they know that eventually something is going to happen, what that something is going to be, none of them are sure. But slowly, there time is coming, and one of them is dreading it just as much as the rest of them.

The door bell rings, it usually does around this time, Miley lays her book down on the nightstand, shutting off her iPod and gets up from the bed, walking downstairs to greet her guest.

He smiles at her sweetly, and pulls her into a hug.

"Dinner will be ready in a few minutes' guys" her mom's shaky voice comes from the kitchen and Miley looks toward her instantly, giving her a reassuring smile.

"We'll be upstairs" Nick, the guest obviously, takes her hand as she leads him upstairs.

"Miles, we need to talk" her face takes over a panicked look and she drops his hand.

"You're leaving me? No! No, you can't leave me" he reaches to her, grabbing her hand again.

"I'm not leaving you Miley, I'd never do that, I love you too much" she smiles slightly, feeling tears prickling in her eyes.

"I just think that you're worrying about this situation too much and it's stressing you out, you're only in high school Miley, you need to chill out a little bit" she shakes her head no, sitting down beside him.

"Nick, my family is broken, I have to be here for them, I'm growing up quickly I know but I have to, it's for us, the family" he squeezes her hand lightly and smiles at her.

"I know you have to be strong for your family Miles, but you need to let it off your chest every once in a while" tears stream down her face and he pulls her into a hug, she digs her head into his chest.

"You deserve someone better than me" she pounds on his chest once, he frowns slightly.

"Tell me you hate me Nick! Tell me you hate me and you never want to see me again" she hits him more, he doesn't dare try to stop her; she needs to let out the anger.

"Tell me! You deserve someone prettier, someone stronger, someone unbroken" she continues to hit his chest, her hits growing physically more powerful.

"I can't do that Miley" she hits him more.

"Why not? Are you not strong enough? Because I'll do it myself, I can be stronger than you!" she starts to show him, punching his chest with more force than ever before. With ease, he grabs her wrists, careful not to hurt her.

"Stop it Miley, you're only beating yourself up" she looks confused and tries to hit him more, wanting to prove to him that she's not the one being beat up, it's him, or so she thinks.

He wraps his arms around her waist, pulling her close to him, making her feel safe. Tears pour from her eyes as her body loosens and her arms drop to her side. She sobs into his shirt, staining the light blue fabric with her black mascara, but neither care about the status of his shirt, they only care about themselves, wrapped up in one another, Nick trying to soothe her by rubbing her back with circles.

Slowly, her arms lift up again and she wraps her own arms around his waist, trying to be as close to him as she possibly can. He grabs her back, pushing her closer, as a tear of his own escapes from his eye.

**A/n: okay, 3 reviews is not enough. I know the chapters are shorter and it's not as good as my past story but i expected at least 5. And i would've waited to post this until i got 5 but i'm leaving for vacation tomorrow. so, i'm being nice right now. but if i don't get AT LEAST, i'd like more, than 5 reviews on this chapter, it's going to take me longer and longer to post. =) i don't wanna be mean, but it's hard to write a story when no one reviews it. so, please. review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**The Perfect Boyfriend  
Chapter Three**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**A/n: I don't swear, so Miley never actually starts cursing in this chapter.**

_When she starts cursing at you, trying to act all tough…  
Kiss her and tell her you love her_

The Stewart family is slowly falling apart, we all know that, but when the three girls of the family stop talking to each other and looking to each other for support, what happens? All three of them are on their own, not from will, that's just what's happened, slowly and surely. Now the only time one of the girls goes to another is to discuss the money issue, and that's only because they have to.

**-xoxo-**

Miley Stewart sits alone in her room, tears streaming down her face as she picks up a newspaper, flipping over to the third page and looking at the job availabilities, she's tried to get a job other than the occasional baby-sitting for weeks now, and she's been turned down every time, with the same old rejection 'you're too young'.

She sighs at thinking back to a job she's heard about before, a job that pays a lot of money but is risky and dangerous. She never thought before in her life that she'd have to resort to it, ever, and she's positive that they will turn her down because she's too young again, but her mind resorts to its usual thinking 'you have to try' and she will.

She picks up her cell phone, her hand shaking violently and she scrolls down the address book and finds the number she's looking for, her finger glides over the call button several times before she finally works up the nerve to push down, bringing the phone up to her ear at the same time.

It rings, three times before a scraggly voice comes over the speaker.

"Hello?" she gulps loudly, her hand still shaking as her voice squeaks into the phone.

"Hi, this is Miley Stewart" she tries to go on but he cuts her off.

"Okay, I get it, that's your name, what do you want kid, I'm kind of busy?" she lets out a deep breath, squishing her toes into the carpet below her feet.

"I need a job" suddenly, the man becomes interested.

"Okay, how about you come down on say, Saturday? We'll let you have a feel of the environment and see if you're fit for the job. Say around seven?" her eyes close, and her hands start to shake more.

"I'll see you then" and with that a beep sounds over the phone, letting Miley know that the conversation is over and the meeting or should we say her 'interview' has been planned.

She gets up from the bed, walking across her room and into her closet, she sighs as her finger tips graze the material. Her hands find their way to the outfit she chooses to wear for the day and she pulls the items off the rack. She slips off her pajamas and pulls on the jeans and t-shirt, and then she makes her way over to her shoes and pulls a pair of tennis shoes over her feet. She grabs her purse and walks out of the room, walking down stairs and into the living room, where her mom is sitting on the couch.

She stands in front of the door, hand grasping the doorknob for a while, just looking back at her mom, she's looking at the television screen but nothing is playing, every few seconds she raises the glass in her hands up to her lips and takes a sip of the liquid inside. Before too long the liquid will be gone and she'll raise up from the couch, taking her eyes away from the blank screen and walk into the kitchen and drop the cup into the sink.

Miley sighs as she twists the doorknob, the door springs open and she walks out, down the steps and out onto the sidewalk.

Her mom won't notice she's gone, and neither will Brandi they're to caught up in their own lives and their own jobs to worry about her whereabouts.

Her shoes softly tap against the concrete as she moves toward her destination, keeping her eyes on the tip of her shoe, and holding her purse tightly in her hands she moves swiftly, every now and then running a hand through her hair, a nervous habit she's picked up over the course of a few days.

She comes into sight of the house she's been walking toward and her pace picks up, ready to be there and to feel safe like she always does when she's there. To know that she's protected in that house and that no one is in a daze like they are at her own home, they're move alive, more non-zombie acting.

Her finger pushes against the doorbell and from outside she can hear it ringing through the house. She hears someone faintly say 'I'll get it' and then the door being unlocked and finally, the door opens, revealing one of the household members.

"Hey Miles" she smiles faintly at him, as he allows her entrance into the house, once they're both inside he pulls her into a hug, patting her lightly to let her know that he's there.

"Hey Kev" suddenly Joe comes racing down the stairs, wide eyed and messy haired.

"Miley!" he pulls her into a hug and then pulls away, bouncing up and down.

"I haven't seen you in forever!" he squeals, holding her hand and pulling her toward the game room.

"I don't really want to play any games right now Joey" he sighs and lets go of her hand.

"Oh, okay, are you staying for dinner?" she shakes her head, a normal smiley Miley smiley planted on her face.

"That's why I'm here actually, Nick invited me for dinner" he mumbles something and then plops down on a bean bag, turning on the television and flipping through the channels, looking for something to watch.

Miley watches the scene unfold carefully, taking note of how this reminds her of a happier mom at her own home, something that her mom would do if she wasn't so depressed. Instead of looking at a blank screen now, Miley watches colors flash across, she smiles.

"Hey" she feels arms wrap around her waist and she twists around, kissing Nick on the nose.

"I missed you" he tightens his arms around her, pulling her closer.

"It's only been a day Nick" he rests his forehead on hers.

"And that's far too long" he laces their fingers together, and pulls her lightly toward the kitchen.

"I think Mom is making lasagna" instantly Miley becomes ten times hungrier than she was two minutes ago.

"Mmm, that sounds really good" he smiles.

"She said you'd like it" she nods.

"It's my favorite" he pulls her on into the kitchen, satisfied that his mom was right and that she likes the dish that he's been helping her prepare today.

As soon as they enter the kitchen, the smell of the food enters their nostrils and Miley glows, it's the first smell of real food she's smelled in weeks.

"Oh my gosh, that smells delicious Denise" she's learned the hard way not to call her Mrs. Jonas.

The mother smiles at 'her daughter' as she shuts the oven door.

"Good to see you Miley" the teenaged girl smiles and sits down at the table with her boyfriend, ready to eat as soon as it's ready.

"You too" Nick grabs her hand under the table, glad that she's finally acting like herself while Miley's thinking that she likes how she can be herself when she's around this family, she can't help but to be herself.

Minutes later the dinner table is surrounded by the Grey family and Paul starts everything off by saying grace, once that's done, everyone releases hands and pile food on their plates, digging in as soon as they've put as much food as they want on their plate.

Miley watches at first, noticing how Joe takes the most food, Frankie rolls his eyes at everyone's childish behavior, Denise smiles at her family, wondering how she got this lucky, Paul wraps his arm around Denise's shoulder, pulling her close and kissing her forehead, Kevin's gigantic smile as he grabs the food that he wants, and Nick's crooked grin, that one she notices the most. He's looking at her, intently, and her cheeks turn a soft pink, he reaches toward her, brushing his fingers across the soft flesh. Slowly he mouths 'I love you' and she smiles brightly, replying back 'I love you too'.

And then, they both get the food that they want and Miley's eyes roll back in her head when she takes her first bite.

**after dinner.**

Everyone has migrated away from the table, either taking to their room or into the game room to play games and watch movies.

Nick and Miley have made their way up to his bedroom, Miley's lying quietly on his bed, twiddling her thumbs and Nick's putting a movie into the DVD player. When he's finished he joins Miley on the bed, wrapping his arms around her as she cuddles up to his body.

Halfway through the movie, although Miley hasn't watched any of it, she's too focused on thinking and now, without thinking, she asks out loud.

"Why are you so nice to me?" his grip tightens on the petite girl and he sighs, knowing that this can't lead to any where good.

"Because I love you" her face scrunches up as she pulls away from his grip, now in full view, making eye contact.

"No you don't" he reaches toward her, brushing her cheek with his thumb.

"Yes I do" he smiles at her, trying to understand exactly where she's headed with this.

"How? I'm so broken" he resists the urge to roll his eyes, not this again.

"Your family is perfect! How can you stay at my house all the time when you've got this flipping perfect house and so much dang support?"

He tries to say something, but she's still going at it.

"I just don't understand, you've got everything that I could wish for! You house isn't broken! Why do you stay around a thing like me?" he's had enough now, she's been putting herself down way to much here lately and he's sick of it, but he can't get a word because she's already back at it.

"I'm not pretty, and I'm not good enough and you've got so many other chances to be with better, prettier girls and you still hang around" he thinks of nothing else to do, so he crushes his lips into hers and immediately, she shuts up.

She starts kissing back, relieving every bit of doubt she has into the kiss, he wraps his arms around her waist and pulls her close, then he pulls away from the kiss and smiles at her.

"I love you Miley, why's that so hard to understand" and with that, he kisses her again.

**A/n: This chapter isn't the best, but keep on reviewing! last time i had a great amount of reviews! it pleased me. and that's why you're getting this chapter right now. i was going to wait until next week to post. see what reviewing gets you? love you guys. REVIEW!**


	4. Chapter 4

**The Perfect Boyfriend**

**Chapter Four**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**A/n: I made a boo boo, in the second chapter they don't have first class together, in this chapter they do. Just go with it.**

_When she's quiet…  
Ask her what's wrong_

Once again, Miley Stewart walks into school alone, sighing lightly as she walks straight to her locker, ignoring everyone's worried looks. She's not going to let them pity her, and that's exactly why she hasn't told any one about what happened at her house, except for Nick, but evidently it's obvious on her face that something's wrong, because everyone looks, and some tend to gasp at the sight.

She looks stressed beyond belief. Bags hanging under her eyes, which she's tried desperately to cover up with make up, her eyes are red rimmed, and that's from wiping the tears away. Her clothes have become looser on her body, that's from lack of food and stressing so much. She looks sickly, and some people think that she is. Guesses about a possible pregnancy have been flying around, but she's been losing weight, so everyone's kind of lost interest in that idea. Miley doesn't really care though, she's been able to look pass all the pregnancy rumors, she thinks that a lie is better than the truth in this scenario and she's not letting anyone know the truth, anytime soon.

She reaches her locker, and dials in her combination, sighing lightly as she lifts the lock away from the metal container. She quickly grabs the books she needs and locks it back, walking swiftly toward her first class. When she gets to the class room, she sits down in her assigned seat, and lays her head down on the desk top.

Her phone vibrates lightly and she pulls it from her pocket.

**1 new message from: Nick**

She hits the open button and skims over the small message.

**Where are you?**

Her fingers tap across the keyboard on her phone as she replies to his message, letting him know that she's already seated in English class, awaiting the arrival of everyone else. She slides her phone back into her pocket and lays her head back down on the desk, falling into a conscious sleep.

The warning bell rings loudly and Miley slightly jerks up in her seat, wiping at her eyes and then she watches as her classmates enter the classroom, most of them look her way, and then turn around to the friend that they were just talking with and start whispering, when Miley recognizes what they're doing she focuses her attention on her pencil, twirling it around in her hands and watching the eraser intently.

Nick comes up behind her, massaging her shoulders for a second and then taking the seat beside her.

"Hey" his voice is soft, melodic to Miley's ears and she closes her eyes in contentment.

The teacher then walks into the classroom, making everyone's mouths shut as they focus their attention toward the front room, where now the teacher is already informing her class what their assignment is for the period and what they'll have to do for homework if they don't work hard enough to get in complete in class.

Miley wastes no time, flipping open the work book and taking out a single sheet of notebook paper and she writes down the answer to the first question, not bothering to read the passage, they already did that in class.

Nick looks over at her warily, detecting that something is wrong, she's patting her hand nervously on her knee and she never does that unless she's worried about someone close to her figuring something out. He ignores the suspicious feeling for now though, concentrating on his work so that he doesn't have to take it home.

Halfway through being done with her school work for her English class Miley sighs softly, dropping her pencil down on the best, and stares straight in front of her, focusing on the clock, listening nervously as the tick-tock sound lapses through the room.

She can barely take it, she's thinking about jumping up right there and running from the room, but that would only be signaling that she really is taking this hard. She has to be strong, she has to stick it out for at least right now, later on she can combust and scream into air, right now she has to keep her act up, stay strong.

She picks her pencil up again and Nick, once again, looks over at his girlfriend, growing more worried every second. She presses the lead down on the paper and tries to finish her paper, focusing completely on the work, the last thing she needs is bad grades, especially at a time like this.

**at the end of class.**

Miley jumps from her seat, piling all her papers together and folding them under her arm. She rushes from the room, making a bee line for her locker; she opens it quickly and searches through the mess until she finds her purse. She pulls the bag open and grabs at her water, pulling it to her lips and sighing contently as the liquid runs down her scratchy throat.

After she gulps down half of the bottle she screws the lid back on and throws it back into her purse, shutting her locker and turning around, pressing her back against the cool metal.

"Miley?" she starts cracking her knuckles, a new habit.

"Are you okay?" Nick moves to her side, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and pulling her face into his chest, and then he leans down and presses his lips against the top of her head.

"I'm fine" she mumbles the words, trying to find relief in the smell of his Axe cologne.

Her body pulls away from his as the bell rings for their next class.

"I'll see you at lunch Miles" he kisses her forehead sweetly and walks in the opposite direction as her.

Her eyes follow him as he walks down the hallway, she still has doubts that maybe he wants to break up with her but he's afraid she'll fall off the deep end if she does. But she tries pushing it out of her head, telling herself that he was with her before the fall out at her house and they've just got a love strong enough to survive this... bump in the road.

She drops her books to her side, holding them only slightly so that they won't fall to the ground as she turns on her heel, pushing her feet to move forward as she walks into her next class.

**lunch.**

Everyone is seated at their tables, except for Miley. She finds herself roaming the halls, soaking in every detail of the school, good and bad. Her iPod is plugged into her ears as she journeys along the cement floor.

In the cafeteria Nick's leg is shaking furiously as he stares at the door, waiting impatiently for his girlfriend to walk through.

"Where is she?" he ask out loud, turning toward the others at the table, everyone shrugs, no one really understanding why he's so nervous about her being late except for him, and his family. He sighs loudly as he thinks about his family knowing, Miley doesn't know that they know yet, but he couldn't get away with not telling them, not after she came for dinner last night.

"I'm going to go look for her" he starts to stand up but at that exact moment, as if it was planned, Miley walks through the doors, looking toward her usual table and walking toward it. Nick sits back down, turning around, acting as if nothing was bothering him.

She takes the empty seat beside Nick and lays her purse down on the table, in place of her lunch tray. Everyone goes silent, focusing their attention on the food in front of them as Miley lays her head down on the table, and sighs.

"Miles?" she doesn't lift her head from the table as she replies.

"What?" her voice is muffled, Nick lifts his hand and places it gently on her knee, leaning down to her ear and whispering into it.

"We need to talk" her eyes widen, she's been having doubts sure, but surely he wouldn't want to break up with her, not now.

"Um, okay" her voice is cracking so she tries clearing her throat. Nick takes her hand and pulls her from the seat, leading her out into the hallway.

Miley takes her hand away from Nick's and laces her fingers together, fiddling with her thumbs so that she can think about something else, because she's positive that if she thinks about Nick's next words she will burst out into tears.

"Miley..." his voice is soft, and Miley can't stand to look at him so she hangs her head, looking straight down at the cement.

"Hurry up and just do it" she has to clear her throat again after she says this, because the cracking is still there.

"Do what?" she purses her lips together in a straight line, why is he making this harder?

"Break up with me" her voice cracks now, and tears stream down her face.

"No, Miley, I'm not breaking up with you" her face scrunches up in confusion and he wraps his arms around her waist, pulling her body closer to his. She looks up slowly, revealing her tear streaked face and he pulls one hand away from her body, wiping at the tears below her eyes.

"You aren't?" he shakes his head no and smiles down at her. She buries her head into his chest, embarrassed by her assumptions.

"I just wanted to talk to you" she sniffs and looks back up at him.

"About what?" he wipes more tears away from her eyes.

"Today it seemed like something was bothering you" she rubs at her nose.

"Will you tell me what's wrong? Please." His voice is begging, and sweet. And she can't help but confide in him completely.

"Mom had a rough night last night" he nods, telling her to continue.

"She started screaming and throwing stuff around" a tear rolls down her face.

"I think- I think she'd been drinking" he looks at her sadly, surely to goodness her mother wouldn't do such a thing.

"She's always been against stuff like that! I don't see why her views are changing now. I mean I understand we're going through a rough time, but she swore that she would never resort to... that" he strokes her hair, kissing her lightly on the forehead.

She sobs into his chest, he allows the liquid to soak his shirt as he continues to stroke her hair, trying to calm her down.

Eventually, she calms down and wipes the tears from her eyes.

"Thanks Nick" she looks up at him and smiles.

"For what?" she shrugs.

"For talking to me, for realizing that something was wrong. Thank you" he smiles back at her, kissing her forehead again.

"There's no need to thank me for that Miles, that's what I'm here for" she kisses his lips softly and then rests her head back on his chest, wrapping her arms around his waist.

**A/n: Mkay, i'm updating this earlier than i was going to but, i got 8 reviews so i'm pretty pleased, although i'd really like to get ten =)**

**today's already been rough, so that's another reason i'm posting, i just got back from the doctor and i had to get tested for everything in the book so... yeah. I need reviews to cheer me up. and i've been working like a mad woman on this story so chapter seven is almost done, and now i'm ratlling. but i don't really care.**

**i just want you guys to review, please. i don't feel good. =)**


	5. Chapter 5

**The Perfect Boyfriend**

**Chapter Five**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**A/n: Important at the bottom.**

_When she ignores you…  
Give her your attention_

Miley body shakes slightly as she moves quickly into the building in which her job interview is being held. She is scared out of her wits and has never, ever been in a building like this before, truly, it's terrifying.

The door closes behind her, and she clutches her purse to her side as she looks around. It's definitely not the environment she's used to, and she can already tell that it's going to take lots of convincing for the other people that work here to even consider her. But this is her only shot, the only way she can help her family get through this mess, and she's willing to risk it all.

"Well hello there, you must be the person I'm waiting for" she jumps slightly and then relaxes when she sees the owner sitting at one of the many tables through the room.

"Um, yes, I'm here for a job" he nods lightly and looks her up and down, writing something down on a piece of paper.

"Your name Miss?" she looks confused, shouldn't he already know her name?

"Miley, Miley Stewart" he scribbles on the paper again.

"And how old are you Miley?" she gulps, this is always the dreaded question for her, this is where he's going to tell her that she's too young and to just go home, and forget about ever getting a job.

"I'm sixteen" he smiles, looking her up and down again.

"Sixteen, that's a nice age" she smiles too, praising God that maybe this time, just maybe, age won't be an issue.

"Miley, I'd like to let you know right off that this is a club for twenty-one years of age or older and normally I wouldn't be allowed to hire a sixteen year old girl. So I'm going to have to ask you to sign a few papers before you can officially start working here" she nods, happy that he's actually going to give her a chance.

"Besides, right now, I don't think age is an issue, as soon as I saw your body I knew what you were meant for here at our club" she smiles again and he gets up from his seat, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and pulling her toward his office.

Miley looks around the office, it's small, very small, and it only contains a desk and a file cabinet. The walls are a dark blue color, making the room look even darker than it really is. The owner moves behind the desk, sitting down on the squeaky chair and taking a few papers from a drawer. He hands the papers to Miley and shoves a pen in her hand.

Quickly, she looks over the papers, sure that nothing in it really matters, she just knows that she's finally getting a job and that nothing, not even these papers, are going to get her to stop now. She signs the papers in her best signature and hands them back over to the man. He smiles grimly and places the papers in a new folder, marking her name on the tab at the top of it, and then he places it into the file cabinet and shakes Miley's hand.

"It's good to finally have you in the business Miley, my name is Peter and I'll be your boss from here on out" she nods slightly and rises from her seat.

"First let's go over the guidelines, you are to be here at exactly nine o clock every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday night. If you work as expected, we'll give you more days, meaning more money, which I know is what you want, am I right?" she nods and he continues.

"Another rule, you never ever mention to anyone that you work here, keep it totally secret, otherwise, the consequences are listed in the contract and they will be placed into use I can promise you that" she nods again and he smiles, shaking her hand again.

"I'll see you Monday Miley" and with that the meeting was over, Miley has a job and she's more than happy.

She walks out of the building and starts walking back toward her mom's car, which is parked in a large empty parking lot outside of the club. She slides into the driver's seat and looks at the building for a few minutes, she finally has a job. It's the only thing running through her head, she's not sure at this point what her actual job is but she'll find out Monday night. She starts up the car and carefully pulls out of the parking lot, heading in the direction of her house.

At the Stewart home, Tish is laying down on the couch, looking blankly at the ceiling, picturing her life when it was perfect, those were the days. Upstairs, Brandi pulls her phone out from her pocket and dials a number, pulling the phone up to her ear as she cries silently, waiting for the person on the other end to answer.

"Hello?" Brandi's ear is filled with his rough voice.

"It's me" she can feel his nasty smile from the other end of the phone.

"What do you need?" she gulps, not wanting to have to resort to this… again.

"I was thinking we could have another… meeting… if you're up for it?" her voice is shaky, and unsure.

"I'm always up for it babe, meet me at my place around eleven" she closes her eyes and responds quietly.

"I'll see you then" click, the conversation is over, her day has been planned, and boy is she in for it.

Meanwhile, Miley pulls up to the front of her house, pulling the key from the ignition. But she doesn't get up from the seat, she sits there for a few minutes, staring straight down at the steering wheel, her gut is telling her that this job isn't what is best for her, but she's forcing her thoughts to power over that feeling, she needs the money, her family needs the money, she will pull through with this job, no matter what.

Finally, she gets out of the car, taking the keys and her purse with her into the house. She walks past her mom, not bothering to look at the heart broken women, it will only cause her more pain, and she makes her way up the stairs and into her bedroom, throwing her purse on the floor and flopping down on her bed. She rubs her eyes with her hands, feeling a major head ache coming her way. Her phone rings but she doesn't bother getting up from the soft bed to answer it, if it's that important they'll find some other way to get a hold of her.

The phone rings again, and again, and again… and again. But she continues to not answer, her head ache grows worse and she presses her fingers against her temples, rubbing lightly.

She hears a knock at the door downstairs, but feet don't shuffle and no sound is made, there's another knock, still no one moving to answer the door. One more time the person knocks, and then movement downstairs is made. Her mom groans and places her feet on the floor, cursing whoever is at the door she walks toward it and pulls it open.

"Oh, Hi" the person on the outside says something and they have a quiet conversation before someone starts climbing the stairs, in a hurry.

Knock, knock. Miley's head pounds, why is there so much noise today? She doesn't get up from the bed, she refuses, she just softly says.

"Come in" the door swings open but her eyes stay shut, focusing on the pain shooting through her head.

"Miles" she smiles at his voice and her head ache becomes less painful, but only by a little bit.

Her bed sinks in when he sits beside her and her body rolls over just a little bit so that she's on her side. He softly strokes her hair and smiles down at the love of his life.

"What's wrong baby?" she still doesn't bother to reply, she just lies there, with her eyes closed.

"Miley would you please tell me what's wrong" his voice is filled with worry, is she sick?

"I'm worried about you" he leans down and kisses her cheek, hoping that she will move… or something.

His hand continues to stroke her hair and he smiles when her head moves from the bed onto his lap.

"Are you okay?" still, no reply. He sighs loudly, getting the idea that she isn't going to respond… for a while.

He moves his body so that he's lying beside her and he rests her head on his chest; she wraps her arms around his waist and snuggles deeper into his body. He kisses the top of her head, and wraps his arms around her body. If she wasn't going to talk he was just going to have to give her everything that he could and just be with her.

And that's what she needed the most.

**A/n: Last time I got a few reviews… and I'm just kinda upset. Not saying that I want those people to stop reviewing, I just need to know what everyone thinks. I hope this doesn't make me sound like I can't take criticism because I can; I just really need to know something from the other readers to.**

**So, questions…**

**Question 1: Do you think this story has a storyline?**

**Question 2: Do you have anything you want me to work on?**

**So, just answer those questions… please. I need to know because I know I have a storyline, it's written down but maybe it doesn't seem like I do to you guys? Just let me know, and I'll do what I can to fix everything. I'm sorry if I disappointed people. You can just let me know if there's no reason to continue this story too, I'll understand. So, yeah, review and let me know.**

**Now for the SUPER important stuff: I received some … scary news. And I'm going to be off the computer a heck of a lot more. Or at least, I'm thinking that. I'm not sure, yet, if I'm going to be able to post as quickly as I have been. But keep reading, because eventually, I will post and I want to get just as many reviews as I have been getting. I love you guys and I know you won't let me down.**


	6. Chapter 6

**The Perfect Boyfriend**

**Chapter Six**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing… still.**

**Dedicated to: PilarGirl- her review was amazing and it really lifted my hope in this story. And she's been reviewing every chapter-Thanks so much.**

_When she pulls away…_

_Pull back_

It's that time of the month that dreaded time of the month in the Stewart household. It's time to pay the bills.

"How am I suppose to pay all this?" Tish Stewart's head pushes into her hands as she looks at the many papers surrounding her, the papers all containing big numbers.

"Here Mom" Miley lays a small portion of money on the table, it's all the money she's saved from not buying lunch, she hasn't started her job yet and looking at her mom in this situation makes her want to go ahead and start working, because the amount of money that she's giving isn't enough in her eyes, she needs to be able to give more, a whole lot more.

"Thank you sweetie" her mom smiles as much as she possibly can at her growing teenager, anyone in their right mind could tell that the smile was fake but she was truly touched at her daughter helping her out in a time like this. She doesn't even bother to ask where the money came from like she usually does, she just takes it and counts it up, laying it aside with one bill.

Brandi comes down next, her eyes bloodshot with dark bags hanging underneath them, truthfully, she looks terrible.

"Here" her voice is scratchy and she doesn't even bother to stay a second longer, she just lays the big wad of money on the table and turns away, walking out of the kitchen and back up to her room, where she's going to make another phone call, so that she can collect another thing of cash.

Miley looks down at the wad with wide eyes, how in the world did her sister raise that much money? Sure she has a job at the local grocery store but there's no way she made that much by just doing that.

But Tish doesn't comprehend that, she's too stressed to think of anything other than how she's going to get everything paid. So she takes the cash and counts it, adding the money to other bills, she sighs with relief, she's almost there. She's almost paid every bill on the table now.

Miley looks away from her distressed mother and walks up the stairs to her sister's room, she hears talking from the outside of the cracked door and listens in, only catching the very last part of the conversation.

"I'll see you tonight" there's a pause, Miley figures that the person on the other line is replying.

"Bye" and then she hears her phone flip close and the squeaks from her sister's bed as she lies back on the mattress.

Miley knocks lightly on the door, causing it to crack open a little bit more.

"Come in Miley" she opens the door and walks into the room, sitting beside her sister on the bed.

"What do you want?" it's never been like Brandi to be rude, but here lately she's been getting straight to the point with people, not wasting any time, for anyone.

"How'd you get that much money?" if Brandi was going to get straight to the point, so was she.

Immediately, Brandi shoots up in her bed, looking at Miley with a scared expression, she can't find out, she's going to have to think of something fast…

"Miles, you know I've been working at the grocery store down the street" Miley nods, and then lets her know everything that she thought of downstairs when her older sister handed her mother a giant wad of money.

"Yes, I do know that but I also know that working at the grocery store doesn't pay that much. What else have you been doing?" Brandi's mind races, when did her sister get this smart?

"I got a raise" Miley's eyebrows raise, she's still not falling for it.

"My boss noticed that I was going through a rough time and he offered to pay me extra for a certain amount of time" this time Miley rolls her eyes, sick of the lies spitting out of her sister's mouth. She's not an idiot.

"Brandi, seriously, tell me the truth" Brandi sighs and curls her feet underneath her body, rubbing at her temple lightly.

"I can't tell you Miley" her eyes close and she sighs again, looking even more sleepy now, if that's even possible.

"Yes you can Brands, you can tell me anything" Miley places a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm ashamed of it Miley, I shouldn't do it, but I have to, to help mom. And you don't need to know about it, no one needs to know about it but me, understand?" her sister's voice is strong and demanding, and it lets Miley know that she's not getting anything else out of her.

"Okay, but if you ever need my help, you know where to find me" Miley rises from the bed and walks from her sister's bedroom to her own.

Her mind is still curious, she wants to brown nose, and find out exactly what her sister is doing but she comes to a conclusion: she can't force it out of her sister because then she'd feel obliged to tell her sister about her own job, which she knows no one would approve of, and they might even force her to quit. Besides, Peter told her she couldn't tell anyone about her working there, she didn't want to break the rules in the first week of having her job, in fact, she never wants to break the rules ever, there's consequences, remember?

Soon enough Miley falls asleep on her bed, trying to forget about everything that's happened today. And hours after she's feel asleep, her bedroom door swings open and the love of her life tip toes in, careful to not wake her. He sits down as easily as he can on her bed, causing her to stir a little bit. He raises his hand and places it on her head, stroking her hair lightly. A smile eases its way onto Miley's lips and her eyes flutter open.

"Hello beautiful" her smiles gets even brighter as she raises up in her bed, hugging his waist tightly, she needs to feel this safe feeling that she wishes she could feel 24/7.

Nick continues to stroke her hair, while hugging her with his free arm.

"I love you Nick" her voice sounds distant, and he notices, of course he notices, he notices everything that's wrong with her and he tries to solve the best way he can.

"What's wrong Miley?" she pulls away from their embrace but Nick knows where she really wants to be, so he pulls her back in, and wraps both of his arms around her waist, letting her face fall against his chest. He holds her tight, while rubbing circles on her back with his fingers.

"You make me feel safe" he smiles slightly, feeling the beautiful girl in his arms relax a little bit.

He leans down and kisses the top of her head, closing his eyes in the process.

Once again Miley tries to pull away, she's not sure why, she's where she wants to be; in his arms. But she feels as if she should tell him… about her job. But she knows that she can't. Nick can sense it all, he knows everything about her, he feels sometimes as if he can read her mind.

So he doesn't lets her completely pull away, he pulls her back in, and holds her even tighter. Miley's smile gets bigger, if only she could feel this way all the time.

**A/n: Good Golly Gosh! Y'all really brought the reviews, I like that! keep that up. 15 reviews is amazing, it'd be cool to get 20 for a chapter *wink,wink* but, seriously. You guys really had good things to say and it made me so happy, especially when i got to see just HOW many people like this story. =) I love you guys. review,review,review.**


	7. Chapter 7

**The Perfect Boyfriend**

**Chapter Seven**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Dedicated to: MileyDemiSelenaFan – Always has the best reviews and reviews faithfully, when I post a chapter I can't wait to get the review from you, thanks a lot.**

_When you see her at her worst…  
Tell her she's beautiful_

**monday night.**

Miley parks her car at exactly eight-thirty in the parking lot that she'd just visited Saturday. A gush of air bursts from her mouth as she shuts the car off and removes herself from the car. She shut the door and walks into the building, greeted by flashing lights.

"Miley!" her boss, Peter, walks over to her, taking her arm and dragging her to his office.

"Glad to see you're early, I always like that in an employee" he smiles grimly and continues talking.

"Now, this week I'm going to let you tend the bar, and if you do good, like I predict you will, then I'll let you start training for your next job, the one that you are perfect for, and one where you'll make more money" she smiles brightly, not even caring what kind of job it is, just focusing on the money part.

"Thank you so much" Peter cuts her off.

"No need to thank me. Now the deal is you get paid a certain amount a week, and I base that amount on how well you do throughout the week and how reliable you are, and you're allowed to keep all the tips you receive" he nods, telling her that he's said it all and she stands from her seat.

"Okay, so when does my night get started?" her confidence level boosts up suddenly and she's ready to get started, she's ready to start making money.

"At nine-thirty sharp, that's when the club opens and that's when people start piling in. For the next hour I need you to go out to the bar and get used to making drinks, Laci will help you" he points toward the door and Miley twirls around, smiling widely at the beautiful girl standing there.

"Come on chick, we don't have any time to waste" she winks at Miley and laughs a little bit and starts walking back toward the main room, she follows her there and soon enough, they're both standing behind the bar, Laci talking up a storm.

"Okay, so beer is going to be your number one order, and it's the simplest one to fulfill, all you have to do is grab this glass, and no other one, this one is for beer and beer only, understand?" she looks over at Miley, while holding the correct glass in her hand, Miley nods and Laci continues.

"Then you're going to come over to this pump, and it's labeled so that'll make it easier on ya, then you just fill it up, all the way to the top. If you don't get it to the top people get grouchy, that is unless they're too far gone to notice" she laughs, snorting along the way and Miley laughs along with her, they were getting along great.

By nine thirty Miley had every drink shown to her, and how to make it, now all she had to worry about was getting them right. She looks toward the door and her hands start shaking when she sees people walking in, heading straight in her direction. Laci walks over to the nervous Miley and grabs her hand; squeezing it lightly and making Miley look in her direction.

"Sweetie, don't worry, it only makes matter worse, if you get too much business I'll come over and help ya and if you forget a drink just let me know what it is and who it goes to and I'll remember to teach it to ya again before your next night, alright?" Miley's nerves relax a little bit and she smiles.

"Alright" Laci lets go of her hand and looks at the man sitting in front of them, waiting for one of them to take his order.

"Let's get this started, you can take him he's a regular, and he's nice" Laci winks at Miley and walks over to another person.

"I'll take a vodka fizz" he smiles at Miley, and Miley smiles back.

She walks over and grabs a glass, the right glass at that, and places it in front of her, and then she walks over to the 'ingredients spot' and combines ingredients, an ounce of vodka, four ounces of pineapple juice, one teaspoon of lemon juice and one teaspoon of powdered sugar. She shakes the ingredients and sits it down beside the glass; she puts in three ice cubes and then pours the drink into the glass, topping it with club soda. She smiles as she looks down at her first drink, she did a pretty good job, or at least she thinks she did.

She walks over to the man and sits the drink in front of him, he picks it up slowly and sips the drink, he thinks it through and then looks up at Miley and smiles.

"That's the best vodka fizz I've ever had, but shh, don't tell Laci that" he laughs and she laughs along with them.

"You're doing good kid, I'm sure your night is going to be fine" she smiles at the man and he points a few seats down from him.

"Now get to work" she nods and walks over to the other man, taking his order and mixing it up to perfection.

**3:00 a.m.**

Miley's tired eyes were visible to everyone in the club, she's exhausted and tomorrow's a school day. Luckily for her, they're closing up and she won't have to stay awake for much longer.

"Miley" her boss' voice fills her ears and she looks in his direction, trying her best to look awake.

"Fill me up a beer why don't you?" she nods, and even though she's just ready to home, she can't say no to her boss.

She grabs the glass and while she's filling the beer up to the top, Peter starts talking to her, again.

"So Miley, according to Laci you picked up everything surprisingly well and your night went smoothly, am I right?" Miley turns around, drink in hand and sits it down in front of him. He picks the drink up, allowing it to grace his lips and swirl down his throat in pure bliss.

"Yeah, I'm really doing good and Laci's a wonderful tutor, if it wasn't for her I would've failed horribly. And yes, the night went well" he smiles at her and notices the tiredness in her eyes.

"But now you're ready to get home right?" he laughs slightly and she nods.

"Well, I'm going to warn you that you're going to have to get used to these nights but go on home Miley and get some rest, we can't wait to see you Wednesday night" she smiles lightly and walks out from behind the bar.

"I can't wait to see you all again either" and with that she walks to the door, going straight to her car and jumping in, starting the car quickly and driving home.

**when miley gets home.**

"Miiiiiley!" a gulp slides down Miley's throat as she closes the front door and turns around to face her once again drunk mother.

"Hi mom" her mom comes over to her, drink in hand and hugs her sloppily.

"I'm so glad you're home!" her voice is distant and she raises the bottle to her lips, taking a drink but more than half of it misses her mouth and slides down her shirt.

Miley reaches over and tries to take the drink away from her mom, she still can't believe her mom would resort to this and she doesn't want it to continue, so she's trying her best to make it stop.

"Stop it! This is mine" her mom hugs the drink like it's a precious stone and shoves her back toward Miley.

"You have to stop this Mom, it's not good for your health" her mom mumbles something and stumbles over to the couch.

She collapses onto the sofa and the drink rolls from her hand, spilling some on the carpet, Miley rolls her eyes and goes over, picking the drink up and walking into the kitchen. She drains the drink down the sink and throws the bottle away, then before she walks up to her bedroom she glances at her mom one last time and shakes her head, feeling a tear slip down her face.

**the next day.**

Miley walks into the school clad in baggy sweat pants, a loose t-shirt and flip flops. Her hair is piled on top of her head, and loose strands are falling everywhere. Everyone looks, whispering as they walk away.

Miley rolls her eyes at her peers, seriously, haven't they ever seen a tired teenager? She walks over to her locker and dials in her combination, trying her best to hurry so that she can get away from the whispering teens.

"Hey Miles" Nick walks behind her, hugging her waist and kissing her neck lightly.

"Hey Nick" her voice is tired, and kind of distant, Nick notices.

"Are you okay?" he turns her around and gets a good look at her face.

Her makeup is smeared, she didn't have the time to take it off or reapply it this morning, and her eyes are bloodshot, Nick wipes at her smeared eye liner carefully and smiles down at her, knowing exactly what she needs. He leans down and kisses her lips softly.

"Baby, you look beautiful" her smile brightens and she kisses him again.

**A/n: i didn't get as many reviews this time =( but i still love you guys, i just wish you weren't silent readers. but i understand, i guess. anyways, i'd like to get 11 reviews on this one at least because i want to have 10 reviews for each chapter and since i just got 9 reviews last time, i need another review on this chapter to make up for it =) see where i'm going?  
okay, so school starts back this wednesday and i'm going to be having cheerleading practice and gymnastics and homework (ugh) so, now with my problem and school/sports i really won't be able to update as much. so i'm going to try to cram a lot of writing in these next few days so i can update before i go back. BUT i have to get my 11 reviews! okay, love you guys.  
**_Won't be long till the summer's gone,  
Get your party on =)_


	8. Chapter 8

**The Perfect Boyfriend**

**Chapter Eight**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

_When you see her start crying…  
Just hold her and don't say a word_

**tuesday.**

Miley walks the halls of her school, still wore out from her lack of sleep. No, she didn't have to work last night, but she had to study and do homework… and look after her mom, who took another drinking spell that night.

The final bell rings, school's finally over for the day. Miley continues her walk, until she reaches her locker; she opens it with ease and pulls out her purse after shoving all her books into the crowded metal container. She slams the door shut, and the sounds echoes off the walls of the now empty hallways. She sighs silently and shoulders her purse, walking back down the hallway toward the front door of the school.

Her walk home is uneventful, like always, she walks slowly, and looks down at her feet the entire time, every now and then spotting a rock and kicking it for a while until it's to far out of reach to kick anymore.

While Miley is walking home, Nick and Joe are sitting in the living room of their house, just talking about random things when they spot a petite girl walking depressingly slow on the sidewalk on the other side of the road from their house.

"So I'm guessing you'll be going to her house tonight?" they continue to stare at her.

"Yeah, she looks pretty upset" Nick sighs and runs a hand through his hair.

"I'm afraid she's going to do something wrong" Nick's eyes fill with water, only slightly but enough to be noticeable, Joe pats his back.

"I just hope she doesn't hurt herself" Nick's voice is close to cracking and he finally takes his eyes away from his love and shoves his head into his hands.

**brandi.**

Tears stream down the young girl's face, as she lies on her bed, just staring a ceiling. She can hear her mother downstairs; she's drunk, very drunk. This is the most she's drunk, ever. This is hurting her just as bad as it is Miley, she's devastated, remembering the old mother she had that always told her how that was for your health and that she was proud to say that she had never took one sip of alcohol in her life. Now, her mother wouldn't be able to proud about that, because then, it'd just make her liar.

Her phone buzzes, she rolls her eyes as tears continue to stream from her face, she's getting tired of these calls everyday. She picks up her phone but is surprised to see that she's received a text, it's still from the one she only half wants it to be, but none the less, it's a text.

**From: Tyler**

**I've got someone else for you.**

Brandi sighs and replies back, with a short, 'sweet' message.

**OK.**

She can't help but be happy, she's going to be making more money, but on the other hand, she's going to be doing something that she has always been against.

And that brings her back to her mother, and her drinking spell. She's just like her mother. And whenever she thinks about that, she just wants to die, she's so ashamed.

**miley.**

She finally arrives at her home, but it doesn't satisfy her, she doesn't want to be home, it's full of depressed people and quietness. She hates that.

Her hand wraps around the door knob and she twists it slowly, dreading the feel from the house already. When the door creaks open, all the emotion comes spilling out and her frown, gets worse. She can't stand being here, it drives her insane. But she's got to be here so she might as well suck it up and get it over with.

The door swings open and she instantly knows exactly what's going on, her mother's drunk… again. She's getting worse, that's all she could think for a second, because her mother had been drinking but not two days in a row, only once a week, sometimes two.

"Mom" her voice is shaky and she dreads the scratchy voice that she's about to hear, the voice that she doesn't even think belongs to her mother, it's someone else.

"Where the heck have you been?" Miley changes her mind quickly, she would much rather hear that unwanted voice than to hear her yelling with that voice.

"I've been at school" her eyes are bloodshot and she comes at Miley slowly, gripping the bottle of beer in her hand.

"It's Saturday! People don't go to school on Saturday!" Miley rolls her eyes and tries taking the bottle from her mom's hand.

"You've lost it mom, it's Tuesday!" in a quick second Tish's eyes fill with anger, she's furious and Miley can tell.

"Don't talk to me in that tone of voice!" Miley tries moving around her mom, she doesn't like the vibe feeling the room, it's uneasy and scary.

"Just calm down mom" Tish grabs Miley wrist roughly with her free hand and pulls her around so that she's back in front of her.

"Don't walk away from me when I'm talking to you!" her wrist hurts, she can't bear the pain and she's terrified, that's not her mother standing in front of her.

Quickly, she rips her wrist from her hand and takes off running toward the stairs, but when she gets on the second stair Tish throws the bottle in her hand, and it clashes with the wall, right beside Miley's head. Miley's eyes close, thinking of what it would have felt like if the bottle would have collided with her head instead of the wall. But she doesn't have much time to think about that, because she realizes her raging mother is walking toward her and she takes off up the stairs, leaving the mess of glass for her mom to step on.

When she gets upstairs her sister is standing her bedroom doorway.

"What just happened?" her voice is uneven and she looks scared, Miley looks terrified and her eyes slowly fill up with tears.

"Did she hurt you?" Brandi walks over to her sister, looking at her sternly, letting her know that she's only going to take the truth.

Miley's eyes connect with her wrist and what's there is terrifying, it's bruised, badly. Brandi gasps and examines her wrist thoroughly.

"What about the smash?" Miley explains everything that happened and then they go their opposite ways, after Miley assures her sister that she's fine. But in all actuality, neither of them are fine, they're far from it.

When Miley is back in her room, she shuts the door and locks it, not wanting her drunken mother to get in, afraid of what might happen if did. She takes out her cell phone and sends a text.

**To: Nick**

**If you come tonight, come through the window.**

She couldn't bear thinking what would happen if he walked through the door and her mom was still down there, still drinking and tried the same thing on him, she couldn't afford him getting hurt. Soon her phone vibrates again and she looks down to see he's calling her.

"Miles" his voice is soft and caring and Miley can't help but melt at the sound.

"What's wrong?" so Miley goes on to tell him everything that happened, crying gushes of tears a long the way. When she's done with her story, she hears the words that she really needs to hear right now.

"I'll be over there in a few minutes" and then they hang up, Miley collides with her bed, shoving her head into her pillow as more tears pour out.

Everything is going wrong; her mom's an alcoholic, her sister is doing something that she won't tell, she's working at a bar while she's underage, and their dad's gone, their support system, the person that helped them through anything, one of Miley's favorite people.

Her balcony door opens and she feels the cool breeze hit her legs, she raises from the bed and walks over to Nick, his face is full of worry, he can't stand seeing her so broken, but he refuses to let her know that, she needs him the most right now and he's not going to let her down by telling her how he can't see her like this anymore, then she would only try to cover it up and he doesn't want that.

Miley rushes into his arms and cries out, tightening her arms around his waist and pushing her head into his chest. He wraps his arms around her shoulders and caresses her hair soothingly, and then he bends down slightly and kisses the top of her head. He bends down more and picks her up, carrying her over to her bed. There he sits down with her, Miley sitting on his lap. He keeps his arms wrapped around the broken girl and doesn't say a word, because words can't help this situation right now, she just needs to let it out.

**A/n: Y'all reached the review amount that i needed, so here's the chapter. School is starting tomorrow, so that means my updates won't be as soon as they have been =( because of homework and cheerleading. but i'll try to update as fast as i can. =) 10 reviews on thins one? pleaseee.  
Love you guys.  
oh! And i have a twitter, every now and then i post something about the stories, like when i'm working on them or something. and if you want i could start posting sneak peeks of upcoming chapters? tell me what you think.  
My Twitter: twitter . com /JBlvrr**


	9. Chapter 9

**The Perfect Boyfriend**

**Chapter Nine**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Dedicated to: TheHeartNeverLies442 – because she's amazing and the best pop tart buddy any girl could have =) and thanks for reviewing every SINGLE chapter. I really appreciate that.**

_When she comes to you late at night…_

_Kiss her with everything in you._

Miley pulls up to the club for the fourth time in her life, she's not dreading it, she even enjoys it, most of the time. She pops open the door and climbs out of her car, and then she starts walking toward the front door of the building. Her pocket starts vibrating and she quickly pulls her cell phone out, checking her new message.

**From: Nick**

**Do you want to come over tonight?**

She hesitates on answering, she knows that it's going to more like early morning and not night time when she would be able to go over to his house but she needs to see him. So she decides on a perfect message.

**To: Nick**

**How about in the morning? I'm tired.**

She figures that she can handle this, today's Friday and tomorrow she won't have anything to do so she can run home really quick and shower, because she defiantly doesn't want to visit him smelling like alcohol and cigarette smoke.

Miley opens the door to the club and walks inside, with her cell phone still in her hand. When she gets behind the bar, her phone vibrates again.

**From: Nick**

**I'll see you then. I love you.**

She smiles brightly and types that she loves him too and then she pushes her phone back into her pocket and walks over to Laci, one of her newest best friends.

"Hey sweetie" Laci pulls Miley into her embrace and kisses her hair in a friendly way, they've only known each other for four days but they're so close you couldn't fit a piece of cheese between them.

"Business is going to be hot tonight" Miley had already figured this, I mean come on, it's Friday, of course it's going to be more crowded than Monday or Wednesday.

"I'm ready for it" and she was, Miley was ready to feel the real rush of people throwing orders at her and trying to hurry to get them ordered, plus she figured she'd get more tips with more people, that'd make sense, right?

"Oh, yeah! Here, Brady told me to give you this" she hands Miley a crisp fifty dollar bill and smiles at her while Miley's mouth drops as her eyes widen, looking at the big bill that has been placed in her hand.

"He said that he really liked you because you always got his order right" Brady was the regular, the guy that she served her first drink to, and ever since that night, when she's working, he comes to her instead of Laci. Of course, Laci threw a fit over this, saying that she didn't understand, he had always liked her drinks before and Brady just grinned and pointed toward Miley saying.

"That was until she came" Laci just laughed it off and went back to serving another customer after that.

Miley pushes the money into her pocket with her phone and watches the people file into the club, just like she does everyday she works here.

Brady comes over to the bar minutes later, sitting on a stool right in front of where Miley is awaiting her next customer.

"Hello darlin' how's life?" Miley laughs musically and lets him in on a few things that have happened to her in the last day, he soaks in all in, before too long he'll know her whole life story.

"So what's it going to be today Brady?" after she's done telling him about her life and thanking him for the money, she gets down to business, knowing that soon enough the bar will be over crowded with people they she will have to serve. He tells her what she wants and she makes it with ease, she's almost mastered the art of mixing drinks and Laci tells her every night that she's never seen anyone like her, it usually takes employees weeks to learn how to make a perfect drink, Miley perfected making the drink the very first night. Plus she had a great personality and anyone that was served by her always loved her, it was just catchy to smile when she smiled at you, and smiling always makes people feel better.

Miley's mind flickers to Nick's face for a second while she concocts Brady's drink, she loves him with all her heart, and she wishes that she could fill him in on her job, but she signed a contract and she can't afford to lose this, she needs the money.

The drink slides across the bar as Miley places it in front of the old man.

"There you go" she smiles brightly and sighs happily when she sees more people coming in her direction. Brady lifts the drink to he lips and gulps it down.

"Perfect, as always" Miley always waits for him to give her his opinion on the drink and she knows that if he likes the drink it's going to be a wonderful night for her, she's not sure what will happen if he doesn't like the drink… I guess she'll figure that out later.

"What can I get for you?" she moves on to her next customer, smiling like she always does. The lady in front of her smiles back and tells her the drink she wants, Miley gets straight to it.

**with nick.**

He flips open his phone one last time, checking his messages and seeing if he has any missed calls, he's waited up until twelve because he's worried. Her car isn't parked at her house and her bedroom light is out, she should be home, sleeping, he thinks. Where is she at?

He pushes his hands through his hair and tugs it lightly, he's stressing out to a level that he can't bear. He needs to know where she is, he needs to know that she's okay.

So he calls her, he dials her number and presses the green button quickly pushing the phone close to his ear and listening to it ring continuously.

"Hey it's Miley, obviously I'm not picking up my phone right now so, you know what to do" and then the beep sounds, Nick doesn't dare to leave a message, he knows she gets aggravated when she gets a bunch of messages. So he just shuts his phone and throws it across the room, allowing it to hit the wall and break into pieces. Then he puts his head back in his hands.

Minutes later he's cursing himself so throwing his phone, now if she calls back he won't be able to answer because his phone is in pieces on the floor. He groans at himself and punches the wall with everything in him.

He can't handle this, he has to let it all out somehow, he's always trying to be the perfect boyfriend for Miley, but when he's by himself and he sees that she isn't home, he can't help but let loose and let it all out.

**with miley.**

Miley runs a hand though her hair as she serves one last person, they lay a tip on the table and she slips it into her pocket before turning around and seeing Laci.

"What's up?" she looks concerned; Miley's showing all the signs of something being wrong.

"Something's wrong" Laci motions her hands, telling her to continue.

"I just, I feel like something's going on, like I should be with someone right now, like something's happening that I need to know about" she's never felt this before, little does she know, it's the feeling of something being wrong with Nick, maybe we could call it the love instinct. Kind of like twins always knowing what they're siblings are feeling, Miley and Nick are just that close.

"Well, shift's over so maybe you should go home and see if everything's alright" Laci pats her shoulder and smiles at her comfortingly.

"Okay, I'll do that" she wraps her long arms around her shoulders, hugging her for comfort.

"Call me if anything major is wrong, alright?" Miley nods after pulling away from their hug and runs her hand through hair, again.

"I will" and with that she turns around and walks out of the club, rushing to the door.

Miley jumps in her car, starting her engine as fast as she possibly can, as she silently prays that nothing major is wrong, she already knows that she can't handle it if there is.

She goes over the speed limit all the way home, rushing to make sure everything's alright. She knows that she still has to take a shower and get ready to go over to Nick's house in a little while, she needs to see him, just like she told him she would.

Her car pulls up in front of her house, and she jumps out, practically running to the door and inside her home.

Nick is looking out his window, watching her rush into the house, he sighs with relief and falls back on his bed, Thank God she's okay, he thinks.

Meanwhile with Miley, she walks through the door and looks around, everything looks fine, and her mom isn't drunk, what else could be wrong?

She walks up to Brandi's room and peeks inside, she's lying there, sleeping peacefully. That brings Miley to her mom's room; she eases the door open, only to see her mom is fine too. Her shoulders slump, maybe she was wrong, maybe nothing's wrong.

She jumps in the shower, letting the water rush over her bare body; the hot water wakes her up slightly. She starts washing her hair and that's when it hits her, it hits her what's really wrong. The only other person that she's so connected to that it would bother her that something was wrong. She quickly washes up and gets out of the shower, throwing on a pair of sweats and a tank top.

Her fingers run through her hair, getting the knots loose, she looks quickly in the mirror, she looks like crap, but she needs to make he's okay.

She grabs a jacket and slips it over her arms, knowing that it's chilly outside and not wanting to get sick. She picks up her phone and flips it open while walking down the stairs, sure enough, there's a missed call from her love. Her hands shake as she hits the call back button.

She opens the front door and starts walking out of her house. The call goes to voicemail and she starts shaking even more as she shuts her phone and runs over to the house across the street.

Her body climbs up the tree beside his room, so that she can hop down onto his balcony with ease, normally she doesn't climb up that tree, she just walks through the front door, but as late as it is she knows that more than likely everyone is in bed and she doesn't want to wake them up.

His balcony door is locked; she bites her lip, causing blood to rush into her mouth. Her fist pounds against the glass door. From his balcony, she can't see him; she can't see anything but a dark room.

Her body relaxes incredibly when she sees him with a confused look on his face, at the front of his door. She watches him mouth her name and he unlocks the door quickly, pulling her in as fast as he can.

Immediately his lips are on hers and he wraps his arms securely around her waist. Miley's arms instinctively snake around his neck, deepening the kiss dramatically.

"Where've you been?" his voice is full of curiousness and worry, she runs her thumb across his cheek.

"What do you mean?" he pulls her toward his bed, needing to sit down because his knees are shaking.

"You're car wasn't home, I was worried about you" she smiles, this is what was wrong she realizes, he was worrying about her and it touched her, bringing her to him sooner than she had planned.

"I was just out with a friend" she gulps nervously, she can't let him know where she really was, she already knows that.

Nick notices that she doesn't want to talk about it any further and he just leaves it at that, he knows that she'll tell him everything when she feels the need to. He's just glad that she's okay, and that she's here in his arms. And that's really all he can think about.

"I missed you so much" they smile at each other, Miley placing her forehead on his.

"It's only been like a day since we've seen each other" Miley replies, allowing her nose to touch his too.

"I know but I miss you every second you're away" she bites her lip as blush rises quickly to her face. His smile only gets wider when he watches her.

He moves his mouth closer to hers, enjoying the feeling of her breath touching his skin. She, however, can't stand it, the inches their lips are away is driving her insane. She pushes forward, placing her lips on tops of his. He pushes her back softly, making her lay on the bed with him hovering over her. Their kiss continues, getting deeper with every second that passes. Nick's tongue traces the inside her bottom lip slowly, knowing that she loves it, he feels her squirm beneath him and her mouth opens granting him entrance.

Tongues touch; causing sparks to fly, letting them know that they're in love as much as they thought they were. Her hands go under the bottom of his shirt, rubbing his back lightly as they continue kissing. They give it their all, searching each other's mouth, memorizing it perfectly.

When they pull away, the smiles on their faces are indescribable; his hand runs over the side of her face, touching her with passion and love, he leans down again and kisses her neck, biting down softly on her delicate skin. She keeps her arms under his shirt, moving her hands up and down his back as he continues kissing her body tenderly.

Her giggles fill the room musically when he pulls her shirt up and gives butterfly kisses all over her stomach. This only causes his smile to brighten and to continue giving her kisses on the ticklish part of her body. But sooner that he'd like she pulls his head up and shakes her head no, he rolls his eye playfully and pulls her shirt back down, leaving her ticklish stomach alone and moving back up to her lips, attacking them with love.

"Stay with me tonight" she puts her hands back under his shirt and smiles widely.

"Of course" then they go back to kissing each other, not being able to get enough of the butterflies flying in their stomachs.

**A/n: I made this chapter a little bit longer, and I gave it a little more Niley than I usually do. =) like it? Love it? Hate it? Tell me.**

**AND I'm SUPER sorry for the late update. i know it's been like 5 weeks since i last updated. but school's been rough. i've had homework almost every night and when i FINALLY get done it's time to go to bed or go somewhere or something. so, i haven't really had time to work on this. and i'm sorry to say, but it's probably going to be another great while until i post again =( SORRRYY! I wish i could update everyday, i truly do. but i'll work on this as much as i possibly can and update as soon as it's ready =) promise.**

**thanks for all the wonderful reviews on the last chapter =) I'm so thankful for my awesome readers. love you guys.  
**


	10. Chapter 10

**The Perfect Boyfriend**

**Chapter Ten**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**IMPORTANT: **If any of you read TheHeartNeverLies442 's stories you will know that she's a GREAT author. And she just so happens to be a good friend of mine through Fan Fiction. And we have decided that we're going to collaborate on a story! Get excited! We have a personal account for the story that we're going to be publishing the story to: AllAboveHeartsAndLies -Look it up (You can find it in my favorite authors) and start getting author alerts for it. The trailer was just posted a while ago. =)

_When you see her walking…  
Sneak up and hug her waist from behind_

Nick walks through the school halls, searching for his girlfriend, he doesn't want to seem like the obsessive boyfriend who always has to be with his other but he feels so much better when he's with her, so whenever he can, he's next to her.

After looking for a few minutes he finds her talking to Joe at his locker, he walks up to them and immediately laces his fingers with hers.

"Hey" he leans down and places a small kiss on her cheek, she smiles up at him and finishes her conversation with Joe about red fingernail polish. When they're finished talking he walks off, leaving Nick and Miley alone. She turns toward him and wraps her arms around his waist. She places her head on his chest and he wraps his arms around her neck. The smiles on their faces are so bright when people pass by them they just stare; it's hard to imagine just how in love two teenagers could be.

The bell rings and Miley allows one arm to fall from his waist while one of Nick's arms fall from around her neck. They walk down the hallway with Miley leaned into his body, smiling so much that her cheeks hurt. She can't get over the fact of how happy she is, maybe her happiness has something to do with Friday night and being able to wake up in Nick's arms or maybe the happiness is from him wanting to be next to her and holding her close.

They reach their first class and sit down next to each other close to the back, keeping their hands interlaced the entire time.

Miley couldn't focus on anything that the teacher was saying, she was too focused on looking at his hand wrapped around her own. She thinks it's weird, it's not like they don't hold hands all the time, and they didn't just start dating, so why is she so enveloped by the feeling now? It had to be Friday night, she thinks. What other possible explanation could there be?

**lunch.**

Their smiles are still as big as ever when they walk through the lunchroom doors, holding hands again after they had been separated for a few hours for separate classes. They sit down in their usual sits at the round table that is already surrounded by their friends. But they pay no attention to them; today they're focusing on one another and nothing else. It's 'their' day. They're not sure why it's their day, it's not like it's their anniversary or anything, there was just a strong connection for them to be connected at the hip today.

When they sit down in their sits beside each other Miley turns around in her seat so that she's facing Nick. He leans forward and kisses the top of her nose, smiling deeply into her eyes.

_They just can't get enough of each other._

In Miley's last hour class she's sitting alone in the very back of the room, unfortunately she has to end the school day with not seeing Nick, he's taking a science class and she's stuck in a math class.

She feels her phone vibrate and she hurriedly takes it from her pocket, just knowing that it's going to be Nick, but she's disappointed when she sees the name that sent the message to her phone.

**From: Peter**

**Miley, I need to talk to you at my office ASAP.**

Worry instantly spreads through her veins, the only reason he would need to talk to her is because he wants to fire her, right? He wouldn't need to say anything else to her, or so she thinks. And she continues to think that the rest of the class, every word that comes from her teacher's mouth goes in one ear and straight out the other.

She can't get fired, she decides that when he says those words she'll get down on her knees and tell him she'll do whatever he wants, just to let her stay. But then she starts thinking about that idea… that might prove that she's not old enough to handle the job that she's been working in. But hasn't Laci been saying how she's fit for the job? And how natural she is at learning how to make the drinks? Does that not mean anything?

She thought she was doing so well with the job, she though that there was no possible chance that this would happen, that he would want to fire her. She pushes her head in her hands and rubs her temple slowly, this can't be happening.

After school Miley is walking home, still completely distracted from the text she got in class, trying to think of other jobs that she could find if he did fire her and she just couldn't find any. Before she went to the job interview at the club everyone turned her down, claiming she was too young. She had no where else to go.

Nick walks out of the school with a bright smile on his face, this day has been perfect, he's gotten to spend so much time with his love that it's unbelievable to him, she's usually distant and not wanting to talk, maybe things were starting to take a change for the better.

He spots the brown haired beauty walking away from the school on the sidewalk; he rushes from his spot and goes to catch up with her. When he's about five feet away from her walking figure he slows down, wanting to sneak up on her, surprise her.

He notices how her shoulders are slumped, and instantly he knows; something's went wrong. She's back to her self that she was before this day came about, but he needs to change that, so he comes up behind her and wraps his arms around her waist, picking her up slightly and spinning around with her in his arms.

She giggles uncontrollably and in between laughs she says.

"Nick, put me down" he sits her down but he keeps his arms wrapped around her waist, he places his chin on her shoulder and kisses her jaw sweetly.

Her smile reappears and she turns her head so that she can kiss his lips quickly.

His arms squeeze a little on her petite waist as his smile grows wider.

All worries about Peter and her job slowly dispersed all because she was in his arms.

**A/n: This chapter sucks. I know and I'm sorry. I rushed to get it done but I tried to put more niley in it, this is really just a filler. And I didn't have very many ideas for the chapter. Sorry. It's really short too, I'm really sorry! I didn't mean for it to turn out this short, it just happened that way. **


	11. Chapter 11

**The Perfect Boyfriend**

**Chapter Eleven**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

_When she's scared…  
Protect her_

Miley walks into her boss' office, her hands shaking wildly as she imagines the scene that she thinks is about to unfold in front of her eyes. What she thinks she's about to hear. What she thinks is going to ruin her life, and her family's lives.

But she won't let this get her down; she sits down in the uncomfortable seat in front of his desk with a bright smile on her face. It might be fake, but you could never tell.

Peter walks through the door moments after she does, with a grin painted across his face. He's surprised to see the teenage girl sitting in front of his desk, but glad that she came on his message as soon as she did.

"Hello Miley" He takes his seat in the roll-y chair behind his desk, so that he can look his employee straight in the eye.

"Hello" She folds her hands in her lap, trying to look as professional as she can, even though she knows that this place is far from professional.

"I'd like to give you some news" She nods, gulping fiercely and trying not to blink as many times as she has to. Peter continues.

"You've been doing great at your job, fantastic even and Laci insures me that you're born to work behind the bar but" Here she comes she thinks, this is it, the moment she's been dreading since she walked through the front doors.

"I think you're better for another job. Like I told you at the job interview, I knew what you were meant to do, you're body is perfect for it." He looks down at her petite waist and grins; she really is perfect he thinks.

"That's it?" Miley doesn't mean for it to come out the way it sounds, she just can't believe her ears, instead of being fired, she's being promoted.

"Yes" he smiles wildly, leaning across the desk to look at her full on.

"You haven't told anyone about this have you?" she shakes her head fiercely.

"No, no, no. Of course not, you told me not to and I haven't told a soul" he looks questioningly her way.

"Okay, now you need to promise that you won't tell anyone about the job I'll be promoting you to" he lifts his right eye brow and once again, she nods her head.

"I promise" he smile again and gets up from his desk, walking around and leaning against it in front of Miley.

"Good, because this new job, you're going to be making tons more money" he leans down slowly and places his hand on his arm.

"You're a good employee and I would hate to lose you" she nods politely and lifts herself from the seat she's in.

"Thanks" he nods slightly and let's go of her arm.

"You're good to go now Miley, I'll see you Monday" she graces him with her big fake smile and turns swiftly on her heel, walking out the door of his office.

When she gets out to her car she realizes that she didn't even get the name of her new job, he didn't even fill her in on what she would be doing in a few days. She shrugs her shoulders slightly and starts the car. She doesn't really care that she doesn't know what's she's going to be doing, the words that she heard just a few minutes ago were still running through her head.

'_You're going to be making tons more money'_

Her smile grows, slightly real this time as she starts her drive home. While she feels bad that she's keeping this from everyone she's filled with joy on the inside knowing that she's going to be able to help her family out a great deal.

When she gets home she finds something she hoped to never see again.

Her mom: drunk and angry.

"Where've you been now young lady? And I know you weren't at school because I checked with Brandi and today is a Saturday!" Miley grimaces and starts making her way to the stairs, trying to escape the mess here in the living room.

"Umm, I just had an errand to run" she nods, that's good. She just needs to keep it up long enough to get upstairs.

"What kind of errand?" Miley shrugs her shoulders a little and climbs the first step.

"I was just out telling Lilly about a homework assignment that she needed to know about"

"Why wouldn't she already know about it?"

"She was sick Friday and couldn't make it to school so the teacher told me to deliver the message to her this weekend because it's due Monday" she climbs another step, she's taking slow, hoping that her mom doesn't freak out knowing that she's running away from her like she did the last time.

"You're lying!" Miley thinks about it slowly, she'll give her mom the benefit of the doubt, she's smart when she's drunk, most people are out of their minds and can hardly stand up.

Tish walks toward her daughter, her face blotched with red spots. Miley starts freaking out, how's she suppose to get away from her without getting hurt?

"Mom, calm down, you've got to believe me" this just makes Tish's face grow with redness as she curls her fist into balls, Miley climbs two more steps.

"Stop walking away from me!" quicker than Miley can register her mom flies up the steps and grabs hold of her wrist, pulling her back down the stairs.

"Mom, stop! You're hurting me!" her mom whips around so fast that her long blonde hair strikes her in the face and then after that she strikes her again, but this time, with her hand. Miley's hand goes toward her stinging cheek and tears burn in her eyes.

"Do you think I care if I'm hurting you!? This is your entire fault! If I'd have agreed with your father on not having a second kid he'd still be here! You've ruined us!" Miley's tears pour over, spilling down her cheeks as she chokes out a sob. Her head shakes, not wanting to believe the words that just came from her mother's mouth, her father did want her, she's just drunk and doesn't know what she's saying.

"I hate you! You're a no good worthless daughter! A mistake! That's what you are" and with that, Tish takes her fist and punches Miley as hard as she can in her stomach. Miley screams out in pain and falls to the floor, clutching the spot where her mom just hit her. Tears continue to roll down her face and she starts to feel useless as she lays there on the floor.

Luckily for her though, her mom passes out, the bottle breaking when it comes in contact with the floor. Miley closes her eyes for a second and pushes herself up from the floor, trying to ignore the pain. She keeps her hand over her stomach as she climbs the stairs and goes into her bedroom. She picks up her cell phone and then lies down carefully on her bed. With shaky fingers she dials that much needed number.

"Hey Miles" she can hear the smile vibrating from his lips, happy that she's calling him. But when she sobs into the phone, that smile vanishes and he immediately grabs his jacket and heads for the front door.

"What's wrong baby?" more sobs come from Miley's mouth as she grips the phone in her hand when the pain becomes immensely worse.

"Can you-" she can't speak anymore, she grips her stomach too hard and a sharp pain ripples through her body. She screams and nearly loses her phone.

"Okay, I'll be right over okay? Just hang on for a few minutes" she whispers an okay and curls up into a ball on her bed, she stays on the phone with him until he makes it into her room.

When he looks at her helpless body on the bed and the pain on her face he flies over to the bed, sitting down beside her and pulling her into his lap.

"Shhh, its okay" he looks down and notices her holding her stomach.

"What happened?" he caresses her hand with his thumb and looks down at her with pain in his eyes.

A loud clash comes from down stairs and Miley jumps, Nick wraps his arms around her as she starts shaking with fear.

"Not again" she whimpers as she hides her face in his chest. He instantly becomes worried, what in the world is she talking about? Her body shakes uncontrollably and she wraps her arms around his waist, hugging him as close to her as she can.

"Don't let her hurt me again" he strokes her hair and leans down, kissing the top of her head.

"I won't let anything happen to you" he desperately wants to press on, ask her what's going on… but he'll get back to that later. Right now, she just needs him to protect her. And that's what he'll do until she's calmed down and ready to talk.

**A/n: This is WAY overdue, but I have an excuse. I promise.**

**Lots has been going on: -Cheerleading has kind of started up, and that calls for late nights at the gyms. Literailly, late nights. We have to have our practices 7 to 9:30 (usually) because ball players take it the rest of the time, it's suckish but we survive. =)**

**-They've been piling homework and tests on me left and right and I'm learning how to balance all that out. But by the end of the day when I've finished all that I'm WAY to tired to work on writing.**

**-My uncle killed himself the other night and I'm having to worry about my cousins, and who I'm staying with every night while they go to Ohio to visit them in their time of need. It's frustrating. And I feel REALLY bad.**

**-I'm starting to get sick, and I'm just hoping it's not the swine flu. But I'm getting the symptoms that they say the swine flu starts with, please pray for me.**

**-I'm just having a really rough time with High School, it's defenitly NOT going to be the best years of my life. And crying everyday is something I don't enjoy- but that's what's been happening.**

**I'm sorry I let you guys down, I promise you I'm trying my hardest.**


	12. Chapter 12

**The Perfect Boyfriend**

**Chapter 12**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Dedicated to: .. **– She's really helped me through a hard time whether she knows it or not and she's encouraged me to just write and … I wrote faster =) so, yeah, thank her for this chapter.

**Also thanks to, for reviewing, and encouraging: **

**TheHeartNeverLies442** XOXzanessaXnileyXOX **Niley4ever08** Lnriley96 **MegannnxD** Jamie Ty rex **Pilargirl** Nileyluvr4eva96 **GonnaBreakawayxx** Hadiy101 **BurningRose FrostingDesire** MileyDemiSelenaFan

_When she doesn't answer for a long time…  
Reassure her that everything is okay_

Miley walks through the doors of the club, cell phone in her hand. She walks into Peter's office and spots him sitting at his desk with a grin on his face.

"Hey Miley" he motions to the seat in front of him and she sits down, placing her cell phone in her lap.

"As you know today you're going to be starting your new job" Miley nods.

"And this isn't an easy job Miley, but I believe that you're fit for this job. And that if you try hard enough you can make it" Peter pauses for a second and gets up from his desk, walking around so that he's in front of her.

"Come with me" he moves toward the door and Miley rises from her seat and walks behind him. They walk past the bar and into the back room, Miley never knew what was in the back room but she heard it wasn't pretty. When she's inside, she sees why. Surely to goodness he wouldn't let a sixteen year old girl do this.

"This is Mandy, she'll show you where you can find your uniform and train you a little bit before the night begins" Miley shakes with fear, but she doesn't dare say anything to Peter, afraid if she doesn't take this job that he'll fire her for good and she'll be left without one, just like she was in the beginning. And with her mom not working there's no way she can afford to lose this.

"Like your bartending job you'll be able to keep all tips." Peter walks away from the back room and back into the main room, while Miley walks behind Mandy into another room, with clothes hanging everywhere… clothes that showed almost every part of any girl's body.

"I know it's scary at first and at sixteen it's got to even scarier than it was for me at twenty buy we've gotta do what we gotta do right?" Mandy says, going through a rack of clothes.

"Yeah" Miley's voice is shaky as she looks around the room.

"This one's yours" Mandy lifts the outfit from the rack and hands it to Miley.

"Go ahead and change into that and I'll do your makeup" Miley looks down at the skimpy clothes and sighs; never in her life did she imagine herself ever wearing something like that.

But she's got to wear it. So she slides out of her clothes and slips on the lacy bra and super short mini skirt. She bites her lip and walks over to the vanity that Mandy is waiting for her at.

"You've got a nice body," Mandy says as she looks her up and down before patting on the seat in front of her.

Miley jumps on the seat and twists her fingers anxiously while Mandy fixes her hair. Once she's done fixing her hair she comes around in front of her to do her makeup, Mandy automatically notices the nervous look on her face and sighs.

"Sweets, you can't be nervous. Well, you have to try not to be. Just think positive, think about the money you're going to get out of this, that's all you've got to think about when you're up there. Think good though and it'll come naturally." Mandy starts to apply a bright red lip stick to Miley's lips when she finishes her rant.

**later.**

Miley instantly grows sub conscious, trying her best to cover the uncovered parts of her body with her hands. Every girl around her is super skinny.

'Probably won't touch a fry' Miley thinks as she looks around at their petite figures. She sighs lightly and looks at the curtain in front of her, dreading what she's about to see on the other side. Dreading how the people outside of those curtains are going to look at her. She doesn't want to be looked at that way, that's just not her, that's just not what she wants.

A lady comes inside the room and gets the attention of all the girls by whistling loudly.

"You will be going on in two minutes ladies, if you have any touching up you need to do, do it quickly" Miley starts biting on her lip, not wanting this to be an experience in her life, regretting ever agreeing to do the job.

_Money Money Money_

She was going to take Mandy's advice, and think about the reasons she originally came here for, the only thing keeping her here at this point, the thing that made her happy because it supported her family.

She feels a pat on her back and smiles nervously at Mandy, trying her best to look confident but failing.

"It's not going to be that bad, I promise. The people are going to love you," she knows that Mandy is only trying to comfort her, but knowing that the people would love her, bugged her. She didn't want this; she wanted Nick.

_Nick Nick Nick_

That is working much better. Her mind becomes so involved in the beautiful face of her love that she forgets all about where she is and what she's about to do.

But all that comes back to her mind when the lady is getting their attention again, and her hands start shaking.

"Time to go ladies, line up," all the girls get in a line forming in front of the curtain, Miley stands there awkwardly as one by one, girls go past the curtain and onto the stage.

Mandy pulls on her hand, practically dragging Miley toward the curtain. Miley gulps loudly, trying to avoid the dry scratchiness of her throat.

"Think good thoughts," Mandy whispers into Miley's ear before stepping outside of the curtain. Miley is next and she has a limited amount of seconds to prepare herself for the last time.

"Dear Lord, help me get through this." She whispers lightly and steps her high heeled foot outside of the curtain. She closes her eyes for a second as she walks out onto the stage/counter top and when she's in full view of everyone in the room she opens her eyes.

Self consciousness

Miley never really realized just how much she thought about her body until she stepped out on the stage, most of the girls are already taking their tops off and it makes Miley sick at her stomach, why God? Why?

She moves to the X on the counter top that's marked with her name and imitates the girl beside her, dancing… or at least trying. She's so nervous that her moves comes off as stiff, her moves could possibly be confused for a cheerleader's moves on the sidelines at a ball game, her outfit was only a tad bit skimpier.

But the guys, and a few girls, still start to crowd around her. Most of them gape and she wrinkles her eyebrows, not wanting the attention that they're giving her. But, she knows what she has to do.

She peels her shirt off slowly, drawing more people in. Everyone seems to be amazed by the beauty of her, but she doesn't understand that. She just thinks these people are a bunch of perverts and lowlifes. But most of them really are reeled in by her beauty.

Before too long she's completely lost her clothes and she's shimmying around on the counter top. She still has an uncomfortable vibe in her body but the money that these people are giving her, its amazing and she's willing to do more and more to get more money.

Finally it's time for her to come off the stage and she can feel her body shaking, when she is behind the curtain again, she's completely naked and she feels way too exposed. Someone hands her a towel and she quickly wraps it around her body. She bites her lip, feeling like a terrible person and knowing that she needs to get out of the place as soon as she can or else she might bust into tears for what she just did.

She walks quickly back to the dressing room and pushes her limbs into the jeans and t-shirt. She grabs her purse and whips her cell phone out, sending a text message to the one she needs, the one she always needs.

She walks toward the EXIT door when someone grabs her arm.

"Excellent job Miley, I think you're suited for this job." Peter smiles grimly at Miley.

"Thanks," she mutters as she twists her arm slightly, trying to get outside the door.

"See you a day from now!" he laughs as she walks out the door and runs to her car, clicking send on the text message.

**To: Nick**

**Can I come over?**

She starts her car and drives as fast as she can without going over the speed limit drastically. She gets a new text message from Nick letting her know that she can come over whenever and she doesn't need permission. When she knows just where she's going she slams on the gas, making it to Nick's house is a record breaking five minutes.

By now her hands are shaking so much that it takes her a few minutes to take her keys from the ignition. She walks as fast as she can to his door and walks in, it's late and the room is dark. She realizes that they're probably all in bed; except Nick.

Her body travels up to his room and she swings the door open, not bothering to knock. She sees him sitting on his bed and more tears come from her eyes. She runs over to him and wraps her arms drastically around his neck.

He can feel her body shaking and it scares him, he has no idea what's going on but he knows it has to be bad for Miley to show this much emotion. He closes his eyes, tears threatening to spill from his eyes. He pulls her down on the bed, so that she's lying on top of his, her head hiding in his chest. He starts stroking her hair, kissing the top of her head, just anything to get her to calm down and quit shaking as much. He doesn't want her having a panic attack.

Her breathing gets shakier, and she tries to take deep breaths but it feels like she can't get air. Nick gulps and quickly thinks of something to do.

"Baby, I'm not sure what's going on right now and why you're like this but I assure you that everything is going to be okay." A tear slips from his eye, landing in her hair. She sniffs once and her breathing goes back to normal. She's still shaking pretty bad but she's eased up a little bit. He sighs in relief and wraps his arms around her protectively.


	13. Chapter 13

**The Perfect Boyfriend**

**Chapter**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

_When she feels like she's worthless,_

_Let her know that she's important._

So many things can happen in one day, one week… one month. But every little thing that happens in Miley's life now is one big mistake somehow, everything she does is wrong. She's messing up… She's headed for disaster. Slowly, but surely.

The phone rings impatiently, waiting for someone to answer it, Miley knows that her mother is downstairs, drunker than a skunk and she can't risk herself by going down there to pick up the phone receiver.

So, she gets up from her bed and creeps into her sister's room, Brandi is thrown across the bed, sleeping soundlessly. She looks wore out, like she hasn't received any sleep in days. Miley walks over to her figure on the bed and pokes at her, trying to wake her up in the friendliest way possible.

"Brands, wake up." Miley starts to shake her sister's body, Brandi stirs in her sleep, her eyes slowly fluttering open.

"What do you want?" her voice is groggily, because obviously she just woke up.

"The phone's ringing," Miley replies, her sister not fully awake yet to realize just what is going on.

"Go answer it then." Brandi is growing impatient with her younger sister, why can't she just pick up the phone and say 'hello' … it's not that hard.

"I can't go downstairs, Mom's drunk." Brandi's eyes become alert, now she understands.

Tish likes to be mean to Miley, not Brandi, because Brandi has done nothing wrong to destroy their family, to destroy her mom's life.

"Do you think it's anyone important?" she asks, her voice becoming more awake.

"It's been ringing off the hook for ten minutes." Miley informs her sister, who slept through the annoying tone of the home phone's ringing.

"Okay, I'll go get it." Brandi gets up from the bed, sporting skinny jeans and a skimpy tank top that she was wearing last night, out on a 'late night run' or at least that's what she told Miley. Brandi exits her room and walks downstairs, she sees her mom walking aimlessly around the living room with a bottle of Vodka in her hand, the beverage sloshing onto the floor every now and then from her mom's unsteady walking.

Brandi picks the phone up.

"Hello?" she questions, starting to head back toward the stairs.

"Brandi, is that you?" a man's voice echoes through the receiver, sending shivers down her spine, it couldn't be him… not after all this time.

"What do you want?" her voice is cold, emotionless. She doesn't want to be speaking to him; she doesn't want to ever come in contact with this man again. The guy laughs half heartedly.

"Brandi, sweetie, don't act that way. Talk to your old man with some respect why don't ya?" her dad says, trying to ease the awkwardness in the conversation.

Brandi reaches the top of the stairs and she fleds to her room, Miley is still sitting on her bed and Brandi closes her door, putting the phone on speaker. She mouths to Miley 'It's Dad' Miley rolls her eyes and her face washes over with a look of worry, why in the world is he calling for?

"I don't need to talk to you any special way Robby, you lost my respect when you went out on mom." Her voice is still cold, Robby Ray can't believe that his own daughter would talk to him this way, but in all actuality he should've been expecting it. Brandi always has been closer to her mom.

"Lemme talk to Miles," he says, just knowing that his little girl will still love him, show him more love than his oldest is.

"Um, hey dad." Her voice is shaky, and she bites her lip, not really knowing what to say. Robby sighs, he's one point up, she called him dad.

"Hey baby, how's everything going?" tears blur over in Miley's eyes, what is she supposed to tell this guy? Tell him just how broken they are now? How she's a stripper because she needs to help pay for bills? No way.

"We're doing just fine." A though flashes through Miley's mind, she needs to ask her dad something. She needs to find out the truth but she needs to be alone. She motions to Brandi that she'll be right back and she takes the phone off speaker, walking out into the hallway and into her bedroom.

"Dad?" she's scared, she doesn't really want to find out the truth, afraid she'll only be hurt more by it, but she needs to.

"Yeah bud?" she squeezes her eyes shut, suppressing the tears as much as she can.

"Did you want me? Did you want a second kid? Or was I just a mistake, did mom only want me?" she could continue rattling on, with questions that fall into the category of if he wanted her or not but she decides to leave it at that.

Robby Ray sighs, he knew he would have to answer this one day, he just didn't expect this day to be today, the day he was calling to try and patch things up with his kids.

"Bud, it's not that I didn't want you. I love you," she'd heard enough already, her mom was telling the truth, she was the one that ruined them, if she hadn't of been born they would've still been together, she was a mistake. Tears cascade down her face, tickling her chin before they fall from her face and onto the material of her shirt.

"Thanks dad," her voice has cracked, there's no use in her trying to cover it up, she's already lost control of it. She sniffs, her dad tries to say something else to her but she doesn't need to hear it, she doesn't want to hear it.

"Do us all a favor and don't ever come back! We don't need your lousy butt! We're doing great on our own!" she's lying, but she wants him to feel miserable. She wants him to feel the hurt that she's been feeling for months, that feeling that someone doesn't want them, and it's obvious now that she isn't wanted. She never was.

She hangs up the phone and throws it wildly across the room, it collides with the wall and falls gracefully to the floor, the battery falls out of the device and the screen cracks. She whimpers at the sound, and falls back on her bed. Tears fall freely, and sobs rip from her throat.

Brandi hugs the wall, listening in on what's happening. She hears Miley yelling at her dad and she instantly knows something has went wrong, Miley was always the Daddy's Girl, the one that went along with anything he had to say, she NEVER yelled at him. A smash echoes through her sister's room and her eyes widen, something is terribly wrong, what in the world had her 'father' done this time?

She walks over to her nightstand, picking her phone up and scrolling through the address book, looking for her sister's boyfriend's number. She comes across his name and quickly hits the call button, knowing that he's the only one that really knows how to make her feel better in any situation.

"Brandi?" Nick's voice is confused; it's usually Miley calling, not her sister.

"Nick you need to get over here. Dad called and Miley talked to him and something went wrong because she started yelling at him." She says everything in a rush, just hoping Nick will catch it all.

But as soon as Brandi said 'you need to get over here' he was already headed toward the door, sliding on his shoes.

Nick makes it over to the love of his life's house in a total of half a minute. He doesn't bother knocking on the door and just walks right in, heading straight for the stairs so he can get to Miley's room and help her through whatever she's going through.

"Where do you think you're going?" Nick notices Tish's slurred voice, and feels bad, wishing he could stop for a second and help her to sit down and drink water or something to get the alcohol from her system, but she was the least of his worries.

He climbs the stairs, ignoring Tish's constant cries and barges in Miley's room.

He instantly takes in her shaking form, curled up on her bed.

"Oh Miles," he walks over to her bed and lays down beside her, wrapping his arms around her body.

"Baby, what happened?" he kisses her cheek softly, the taste of her salty tears on his lips.

"Dad, doesn't, doesn't want me!" she starts crying heavier now, tugging on Nick's shirt.

"What do you mean sweetheart, of course he wants you, you're his child, he's just made some mistakes." He tries to explain, holding her closer to his body.

"No, NO!" she screams, throwing her arms in the air, "He doesn't want me! He told me he didn't want me! Mom told me he didn't want me! That's why she hates me! That's why I ruined this family! It's all my fault!" her body shakes rapidly, and he 'shh''s her, trying to get her to calm down just a little bit.

"This is not your fault Miley!" he scolds, pulling her back down into his chest.

"I'm nothing to them! I might as well be dead!" she exclaims. His eyes widen at her statement, she can't be thinking that way, just one little mistake and she could be taken from him forever, he couldn't handle that.

"No baby, no. I don't know who Robby thinks he is but if he doesn't like you then so be it! I love you Miley Ray and that's all that matters do you hear me?" her crying slows slightly and she nods into his chest.

"Nobody matters but us Miles, you're my Miley and nothing is ever going to change that. Nothing is ever going to change. You're the love of my life, the one I want to spend forever with. You don't need to worry about your parents and if they want you or not, I want you." He kisses her forehead and she stops crying, looking up at him with half sad, half happy eyes.

"I love you Nick." She says suddenly.

"I love you too baby." He replies, kissing her fully on the lips.

Brandi presses against the wall again, listening to Nick soothing her sister, they truly are meant for each other. She sighs and walks over to her bed, opening up her cell phone again. She bites her lip when she sees that she has a new message, she opens the text and closes her eyes.

**See you in 15.**

She walks over to her closet and throws on a new outfit, this time she decides on a skirt that ends around mid-thigh and a low cut, racer back shirt. She climbs through her window, ready for another wild night.

**A/n:** OH MY FLIPPING GOSH! You all are just great!...

I got home from cheerleading practice today and I have a message from TheHeartNeverLies442 and she's telling me all about all these NJK award nominations that TPB has got, and I'm thinking, there's no way so I have to go check it out for myself and did I scream. Oh buddy, I started jumping up and down and screaming REALLY loud, Mom actually asked what was wrong. So, yeah, I'm really excited! This just makes me feel great.

So great that I had enough in me to write a chapter. I hadn't planned on writing, I was just going to rest up for tomorrow and stuff but, I just felt like I needed to thank you guys. So, yeah, this is my thank you present =) THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

Mmkay, now review! =) ha-ha, love you all SO much.


	14. Chapter 14

**The Perfect Boyfriend**

**Chapter Fourteen**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

_Watch her favorite movie with her when she's feeling down…_

_Even if you think it's stupid._

Second day of the new work, Miley tells herself that it can't be as bad as it was the last time, because she's more experienced now. And she assures herself that it'll only get easier as time progresses; she'll get more comfortable with the actions she takes on the stage. It'll get easier.

She takes a deep breath and looks at herself in the mirror, the skimpy outfit barely covering any of her skin. It's not what Miley likes to look like; she likes to be more … covered.

"Come on Miles, it's about time to go on," Mandy walks into the dressing room, warning Miley. Because she knows from experience that if she's not out on board when it's her time to go on then Peter gets mad, and she knows that Miley needs this money, she can see the desperation in her eyes, and she knows that if Miley is willing to go through with all this then her thoughts MUST be true.

"I'm coming." Miley announces, looking away from the mirror and toward Mandy. She smiles lightly at her new found friend and starts walking with her to EXIT of that room, leading her to the _other_ room.

She takes a big deep breath as the woman softly pushes her from behind the counter, the lights blind her once again and she's strutting in front of tons of perverted old men.

"Think Nick" she tells herself, she starts imagining that in front of her are not old men who are disgusting in her mind, but the love of her life that she plans to marry one day and have kids with.

She doesn't have to think about what she's doing now, it's all coming naturally; she doesn't look as awkward up on that counter. She's doing an excellent job, and any stripper would love to be able to do what she's doing as well as she's doing it.

Her body crawls up to one of the old men, obviously she's not seeing the old man, but Nick and it's working out well for her. She touches his chin and licks her lips seductively. A bunch of hoops and hollers can be heard from the men surrounding the man she's 'seducing'. She leans in, licking his ear lobe carefully, slowly. She pulls away, revealing a heck of a lot of cleavage in front of his face. The man immediately looks down, drooling at the site. Miley bites her lip and turns around, motioning for him to unhook the lacy looking bra.

He does just that, watching with wide eyes as the bra falls from her chest and lands on the counter top revealing everything she's got to anyone who's interested in seeing. She gets up from her spot and smiles widely when she sees the man pulling out his billfold. She leans back down, her boobs flopping anywhere they wish. She feels way too exposed but she's pushing that to the side, and she forgets all about being topless when the man places a fifty dollar bill between her breasts. She squeezes her breasts together and pulls herself back up.

She struts away from the old man, revealing herself to a whole new group of men. She leans down again, this time laying completely down on cool surface. She pulls her leg up, the legs that are tanned and seem to go on forever, the legs that Nick likes to call his own. She pulls on the band of the underwear with the heel of her shoe bites her finger cutely.

A guy walks up to the counter, amazed by the beauty that's radiating off the girl in front of him; he reaches in front of him, toward her. Miley motions for him to do the job she's willing him to do, who would be crazy enough to not oblige? He slowly removes her underwear. Miley swings her legs so that her feet are dangling from the counter, she places a leg on each side of the man in front of her and wraps her arms around his neck, leaning down and sucking lightly on his neck. The man groans, tilting his head back and wrapping his arm around her bare waist.

Miley realizes that her time is almost up and she most definitely doesn't want to be out here any longer than she has to. She sits up in a crouch, letting everyone view her. She taps the guy's chin and he tips her, a crisp hundred dollar bill slides between her teeth. She leans down one more time, grateful for this guy tipping her SO much. She kisses his cheek, leaving a trace of her bright pink lipstick.

She walks back toward the curtain, exiting the stage with an exhausted look, she feels naughty, disgusting. She needs to shower. She wipes her head with the towel the woman gives her and then wraps the pink towel around her body.

Mandy comes over to Miley, wrapped in a yellow towel.

"Gosh, Miley, you had every boy out there drooling at you!" Mandy giggles, throwing an arm around Miley's shoulder. Miley forces a smile at her and Mandy notices.

"I know you feel bad about it, I did too at first. But, I promise it gets easier." She gives the teenaged girl an encouraging smile and walks off into the dressing room. Miley follows slowly behind her.

Would this get easier for her? She though, how in tar nation could this get any better? She feels like she's cheating the one she would never dream of cheating on. She shakes her head, leaving all her thoughts behind and changes back into her sky blue jogging suit. She pulls her hair up into a bun and wipes the bright makeup from her face. Quickly, she reapplies browns to her eye lids and touches her lashes with some black mascara.

She grabs her purse and flees the building, not wanting to see any of those men again; it would only make her feel worse about what she's doing.

Driving home a flashing light catches her attention; she spots a movie store that she hasn't visited in months. She pulls into the parking lot and goes inside; taking the fifty dollar bill she received tonight with her.

"A Walk to Remember…" Miley smiles at the cover of the movie and pulls it off the shelf, and takes it to the cash register. She places the DVD down on the counter with ease and waits for the grouchy looking woman behind the counter to ring the movie up.

"Five dollars" she snorts, throwing her hand out in front of her for the money. Miley hands her the fifty and waits patiently until the woman hands her back forty five dollars in change. She walks out of the movie store and climbs into her vehicle. She pulls out her cell phone and starts texting Nick.

**To: Nick**

I'm coming over =)

She starts the ignition and starts driving toward her boyfriend's house. It doesn't take her too long to reach there and she climbs out of the vehicle, taking the movie with her. She carefully climbs the tree next to his room and jumps off onto the balcony. She knocks lightly on the glass door and in a matter of a few seconds the door swings open.

Nick's arms wrap around Miley's waist, pulling her inside and kissing her cheek lovingly. Miley giggles and pulls away, shutting the balcony door with ease. She climbs onto his bed and pats the spot next to her, Nick sits down beside her, wrapping his arms around her body and pulling her as close as he can.

"I brought a movie." She smiles cutely up at him and pulls the movie out from behind her back.

"Miles, you know I don't like that movie." He groans, throwing his head back.

"I know, but I like it Nicky, it's my favorite. And I only rented it for one night." She flashes her infamous puppy dog pout, knowing that that's his weakness, he can't say no to that one.

"Alright," he gives in, taking the DVD from her hands and walking to his TV.

"You owe me," he grumbles as he sticks the movie into the machine. He quickly skips the previews and hits the play button when the main menu screen flashes across the screen. He walks back over to the bed and cuddles up to Miley.

Miley's eyes are set on the screen, not looking away for a second. She loves this movie, it's her all time favorite and any one who is half as close as any of her good friends knows that. Nick digs his head in the crook of her neck, kissing her skin gently. He doesn't like the movie as well as Miley does, in fact he hates it and thinks it's stupid, just another chick flick. Miley likes to aggravate him about not liking it…

"Come on Nicky, I know you wanna watch it." She smiles at him as he removes his lips from her skin and looks at her in the eyes.

"No I don't." he kisses her neck once more but she pulls away.

"If you don't like this movie as much as you say you don't then how come at the end of it you're always in tears?" she smirks as he starts to look away, avoiding eye contact.

"I don't do that!" he argues, now playing with the hem of Miley's shirt, trying to keep his focus on something other than what she's talking about… and that movie.

"Whatever Nick, we'll see at the end of the movie."

Sure enough, Miley was right… again. At the end of the movie she was bawling her eyes out and Nick had a few tears streaming down his face. The credits were rolling on the screen and Miley leans up to Nick, with a bright smile on her lips. Carefully, she kissed each tear that fell from his eyes, letting her lips linger on his skin after she had kissed away the salty liquid.

"I thought you said you didn't cry," she says as she does to kiss away another tear.

"I'm not crying my allergies are bad!" she giggles and kisses his cheek.

"Whatever you say baby." She coos, leaning down and kissing his lips. Nick kisses back, holding her neck with his hands and deepening the kiss quickly.

A few seconds later Miley pulls away and kisses his nose.

"It's okay to cry Nicky." She bites her lip and lays down in his arms, wrapping her arms around his waist and looking up into his eyes.

"It shows I have feelings right?" he laughs, that's what she ALWAYS tells him.

"Exactly. You need to cry every now and then; otherwise all your emotions build up and soon enough, BAM! You bust." She smiles at him and kisses his cheek.

"I like it when you cry after the movie goes off, it's cute." She giggles and he leans down, laughing with her while he captures her lips in a sweet kiss.

"Whatever you say baby." He mimics, making her laugh.

"Hey Nicky, I was thinking, maybe I could rent the movie again tomorrow night and we could watch it again?" she proposes, smiling jokingly.

"I don't care Miles, whatever you want to do is fine with me." She was shocked at his answer and decided that she would take him up on that offer, anything to get to be with him AND watch the movie that she adores.

**A/n:** I'm REALLY sorry for not updating in such a LONG time, but chapter fourteen is here now, read it and review it =) I think this is my favorite chapter so far, i'm not the best at writing Niley fluff, but I'm a big fan of niley fluff, so ... yeah.. anyways. review! please! haha, i love you guys so much.  
Anyone that has messaged me and I have yet to reply, i'm REALLY sorry, i try to get to that stuff as soon as i can. But seriously, today i was on the computer for like 3 hours and that's the most i've been on it ALL week, and most of that 3 hours was used for a SS project. So, yeah... =)


	15. Chapter 15

**The Perfect Boyfriend**

**Chapter Fifteen**

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

**Dedicated to: minshewmanac **- Just started reading the series & reviewed almost every single chapter, that's amazing! every single one of you are amazing, i appreciate all of you=)

24 reviews HOLY COW! Thank you SO much you guys, you have no idea how much i love you! thank you, thank you, thank you!

_When she spends the night,_

_Let her wear your clothes_

Miley walked into school, looking better than she had in a while, she still didn't look like the original Smiley Miley, but Nick thought that she was well on her way. Nothing ever stays the same though, and something's bound to happen, but they'll be as happy as they can be while they're able to.

Nick walks up to his girlfriend with a giant smile on his face, seeing her happy makes him happy, that's really all that matters to him. He laces his fingers with hers and stands in front of her, blocking her from walking forward any longer. He leans down and kisses her forehead gently, letting his lips linger on her skin for quite some time. Miley bites her lip, and looks down slightly.

"Good morning," Nick removes his lips from her forehead and lifts her face back toward him, allowing him to gaze into her piercing blue eyes once again. Those eyes that he adores, those eyes that he's always been in love with.

"Good morning to you too Nicholas." She smiles up at him, standing slightly on her tip toes and pecking his cheek lightly. He smiles with her and can't help but wrapping his arms around her petite waist and holding her close to his body. His nose rests on her neck and he breathes in her scent. He quickly kisses her neck and then resumes to standing beside her with their hands latched together.

"So, no fighting at the house last night?" Nick asks, thinking that if Miley was happy that obviously there hadn't been any fighting at her house.

"Mom was hung over all night so she didn't bother coming near me." Miley shrugs as if it's not a big deal, but deep down its hurt her, and it always will. Nick's shoulders slump slightly, he thought that maybe Tish was starting to figure out that what she was doing was wrong and very bad for Miley and Brandi both.

"Well, at least she didn't bother you." They reach Miley's locker and she instantly starts dialing in her combination with ease.

-xoxo-

Miley starts walking up the steps in the front of her house, crossing her fingers in hopes that her mom will be sobered up when she opens the door. Her hand grips the door knob and she closes her eyes momentarily, taking a deep breath. Slowly she eases the door open, peeking through the part of the door that was ajar, she steps inside, careful to make as little noise as possible.

"Miley, sweetie!" her mom walks up to her, she's not drunk which is good, but she's acting way to funny. Miley looks at her mom strangely, shutting the door behind her.

"Hey mom," her voice is low, and she starts walking toward the steps.

"Where are you going so fast? I want to talk to you." She smiles brightly, and something just doesn't seem to settle in. Something isn't right.

How can anyone in their right mind be as happy as she's acting when something as terrible as what's happened, happened?

"About what?" Miley whips around, her pony tailed hair flipping around and lashing her mom in the face. Tish raises her hand to her cheek and looks stunned for only a second.

"School, boys, life, anything, I miss talking to you." Miley looks at her mom in disbelief, how can she be so considerate now? What's going on?

"Schools great, I'm still dating Nick and life sucks." She rolls her eyes and walks up the stairs, her mom follows her but she continues to ignore her. She reaches her room and turns around, looking her mom right in the eyes.

"I don't know what's wrong with you and why you're acting so perky but I really don't care! Just stay away from me and out of my life." And with that Miley slams the door in her face. Tish looks at the white door with a shocked face.

"Well, fine then." She turns around swiftly and walks back down the stairs, forgetting all about what just happened with her daughter.

-xoxo-

In her room Miley takes out her makeup bag, stuffing in all the stuff she usually uses. She throws that bag into her duffel bag and continues to throw clothes in for school the next day; she slips in a pair of shoes and her purse and then throws the bag across her shoulder. Quickly she shoves her feet in a pair of tennis shoes and turns off the light to her room.

She sighs deeply before exiting her room and shutting the door behind her.

"Where are you going?" her mom's head pops out of the kitchen door way and she looks at her daughter with a stern face.

"Spending the night at Nick's," Miley starts walking toward the front door, she has her hand wrapped around the knob when her mom grabs her wrist roughly and spins her back around, Miley comes to a conclusion that her mom has been drinking, obviously heavily because she hasn't been gone to her room that very long.

"Let me go!" Miley yanks her arm away from her mom's grip and tugs on the door, swinging the door open she steps outside. Her mother comes with her.

"You can't spend the night at a boys house Miley Ray!" she shakes her head violently and points her finger at the young girl.

"I've been spending the night with him all the time mom! It's a shame you're just now noticing!" Miley's voice rises as she talks to her mom.

"Well I'm sorry! I've been upset about our situation!" Miley rolls her eyes, yeah; she's been real concerned about the whole thing…

"Whatever, mom," tears start to build up in the corner of her eyes, she can't handle fighting with her mom like this, always before they talked about everything; she was her best friend.

"Fine, you spend the night with that boy tonight but you be sure you're home before school starts tomorrow!" she points one last finger at her daughter and then walks back inside the house.

Miley knows she won't have to worry about being in before school tomorrow, because she'll either be hung over in the morning or too drunk to care.

She shuts the door and starts walking toward Nick's house across the street. As soon as she gets to the doorstep Nick steps out and takes her into his arms.

"Oh baby, I'm sorry, I saw the whole thing." He rubs circles on her back, pulling her more into him. He had debated on whether he should go over and break them up while they were exchanging hateful words but he decided to just wait it out, knowing that Miley needed to say a few words to her and he would only go over if it got physical.

Miley's arms wrap around his waist and tears quietly flow down her red cheeks.

Nick guides her into the house and up to his room. Once they reach there he lays down on the bed with her, keeping his embrace around her and kissing the top of her head every few seconds. His eyes are filled with pain, her happy mood has now dispersed and she's the complete opposite, resuming into her gloomy and sad mood.

It's the best he can do until her crying subsides and she's ready to talk about it or if she's not ready to talk about it then to just talk… about anything. So he waits until she's calmed, patiently.

-xoxo-

Miley sits cross-legged on Nick's bed, picking at the comforter with her fingers. She stares blankly into space as she waits for Nick to get changed out of his clothes. She tilts her head sideways, biting on her lip and keeping her eyes focused on her certain spot on the wall.

Nick jumps on the bed, leaning up and pecking her on the cheek, and knocking her out of her trance.

"What are ya thinking about babe?" he looks at her intently, grabbing her hand and lacing their fingers together then apart and then together again.

"Mom," she sighs, looking away from the wall and into his eyes.

"What about her?" he lies down on the bed, his head resting on her thigh.

"She was just acting funny when I got home." Miley shrugs, looking down at her boyfriend and playing carefully with his mess of curls.

"Was she drunk?" he asks.

"I don't think so, because when she's drunk she's all mean and stuff but she was acting really, really happy when I got home and… she wanted to talk." Miley looks at him weirdly, thinking of her mom's words about how she wanted to talk about boys, or life.

"Hmm," Nick starts to think of all the possibilities and one particular thing pops into his mind and sticks, but he doesn't dare let Miley know, she'd only worry herself about it and, he thought, he might not even be right about it.

-xoxo-

"Here's some clothes for you to sleep in," he gracefully tosses a shirt at Miley and she catches it with ease.

"Thanks," she walks into the bathroom and takes off her clothes, slipping his t-shirt on. She picks up her clothes, bringing them back into his room and stuffs them inside her duffel bag.

Nick comes up behind her and wraps his arms tightly around her waist.

"You look beautiful," he kisses her neck tenderly as she giggles and turns around in his arms. Her arms snake around his neck and she pecks him lightly on the lips.

"Mmm," he smiles, leaning down and kissing her again.

A yawn escapes her mouth as her head collapses with his chest. He laughs slightly and rests his head on top of hers.

"I think it's time to go to bed," he says, Miley nods as best as she can and they go back to lying on the bed.

Nick fixes the covers for her then goes and turns off the light. He moves as best as he can around the dark room and snuggles back into bed with her.

She rests her head on his chest and he wraps his arms around her waist, pulling her close to him and then falling asleep, both of them with smiles on their faces.

**A/n: **I know it's kinda just thrown around, it's just kind of a filler, but it's a very much needed filler. So, go with it =) review, please.


	16. Chapter 16

**The Perfect Boyfriend**

**Chapter Sixteen**

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

**Dedicated to:** Team M -- Because she's awesome and a really great friend. And she always reviews with a great review =)

The sound of her ring tone wakes her up, she glances toward her clock and glares at the bright red lights. 3:30 a.m. who calls at that time in the morning? She take her phone from the dresser and presses the receive button, holding the phone close to ear so that she can hear everything that's going to be said.

"Hello?" her voice is groggy, who's wouldn't be at 3 in the morning? She sits up slightly in her bed, rubbing her eyes so that she can wake up just the slightest bit.

"Brandi, I need you to come over here right now," a male's husky voice is whispered over the phone, his tone is urgent, he means business. Brandi instantly knows who it is; she grimaces at his words but starts getting up from the bed anyways. She makes her way toward her closet as she replies.

"Why?" she whispers her voice, not wanting anyone that is in the house to wake up because of this 'important' phone call.

"Because I have a very angry guy here who has lots of money and claims that you didn't show up at your last meeting," Brandi sighs; she knew this would come one day. One time she forgot to show up for a 'meeting' and the guy gets mad and calls up her boss.

"I'll be there as soon as I can," she says, picking out an outfit that she can wear.

"I'm giving you fifteen minutes, if you're not here by then I'll make sure you don't get any more business," she think about just taking her time, maybe take twenty minutes to get there so that she _doesn't_ get any more of these men coming at her, but then she thinks about the bills that her mom has been struggling to pay, and the bills that wouldn't of been paid if it weren't for her money.

"Okay," she flips her phone shut and quickly puts on her clothes, she's only got fifteen minutes to get ready and get to his house.

**6:00.**

"Mmmm," Miley rolls over and out of Nick's arms to turn the alarm clock off. Her stomach churns and she quickly gets up from the bed, clutching her stomach as she runs to the bathroom. Nick wakes up when he feels the movement from the bed and follows her as swiftly as he can, when he gets to the bathroom door he sees her knelt over the toilet, still clutching her stomach.

"Are you okay baby?" he goes over to her, kneeling down beside her and holding her hair back.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," she gets out, her back moves in a weird way and she gags slightly in her mouth, but still nothing comes from her mouth. Nick starts rubbing circles on her back with the hand not occupied.

"Take deep breaths," he instructs her, still moving his hand around on her back. She follows his instructions and starts breathing deeper.

"Is it getting any better?" he asks, leaning down to kiss her cheek. She shakes her head 'yes'.

"Good," he whispers, letting her hair hang loose, and wrapping his arms securely around her waist. He starts to help her stand up but then all of a sudden that wave of sickness takes back over her and she jumps back toward the toilet, blowing chunks of food into the toilet. He quickly grabs her hair back into his hands to make sure it stays clean and grimaces at the sight of the vomited food.

Her stomach instantly begins to feel better but the taste in her mouth is making her sick all over again, she stands up, pulling Nick with her and walks to the sink. She cups her hands, filling them with water and then sips the liquid into her mouth, swishing it around and then spitting it back out.

"Ahh, much better," she smiles and walks over to the toilet, flushing the contents of what used to be her stomach.

"That was very nasty," Nick stares down at the toilet, the now vomit-free toilet. Miley laughs and walks over to Nick, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head on his chest.

"I'm sorry," she lightly scratches his back and he slowly comes out of his trance, erasing the thoughts of the retching that just went on minutes ago. He leans down, kissing her head.

"I don't think you should go to school today," he suggests, pulling away from her embrace and grabbing her hand so that he can walk with her back into his dark bedroom.

"Why not?" she asks, completely unaware of why he doesn't want her to attend school, she wants to go to school with him so that she can spend more time with him until she has to go back to her torture chamber, aka her house.

"Because I don't want you to get sick again while you're at school," he sits her down on the bed and starts rubbing her stomach.

"But I don't want to be alone all day," she pouts out her bottom lip and gives him the bright blue puppy eyes that he always falls for.

"Who said you were staying alone sweetie pie?" he leans toward her, placing his forehead on hers. She smiles brightly; on the other hand, maybe she doesn't want to go to school…

"Sounds like a plan to me," she giggles lightly and looks deeply into his eyes, she can't ever get enough of the dark chocolate eyes that he owns. She moves her lips toward his, desperate to close the gap between the two of them, but he surprises her by pulling away and giving her a stern look.

"I don't want to get sick missy," he smirks at the look of shock on her face and then she turns her face into a mad one with a tiny mixture of sad. He smiles at her and wraps his arms delicately around her figure. She jerks away from him and moves to the edge of the bed, leaning against the wall that the piece of furniture is placed against.

"Don't be mad Miles," he laughs just a little bit, and moves closer to her, trapping her in the corner that she is placed against.

"Get away from me," she tries her hardest not to laugh, of course she's not really mad, she just likes messing with him and she just so happened to see a chance to do just that and she took it without a second thought. A smile tries to push its way onto her lips but she refuses to let it do so, all the smile has a chance of doing is turning the corners of her lips up a centimeter of length.

He leans toward her cheek and kisses the skin tenderly, kissing toward her mouth, once her gets to the corner of her lip she turns her head, making him kiss a handful of hair.

"I wouldn't want you to get sick," she mimics, turning back toward him. He kisses her cheek again.

"I don't care about getting sick, I was just joking with you Miles," he whines, starting to kiss down her face again. A giggle erupts from her mouth and she pushes him away.

"Let me go brush my teeth lover boy," she moves past him, a confused look on his face, and goes to the bathroom, using the toothbrush that she has at their house to brush her teeth free of nastiness. When she's done she walks back into Nick's bedroom to see him putting on a pair of jeans.

"Why are you putting on clothes?" she asks, walking toward him. He laughs a little bit and turns around, looking at her.

"I'm going to take you out," he smiles, turning back around and picking out a decent shirt to wear.

"Okay, let me get this straight, I'm not allowed to go to school, but I'm allowed to go out somewhere?" she wrinkles her eyebrows in confusion and places a hand on her hip.

"Exactly," he smiles brightly as he pulls the shirt over his head. Then he walks to her, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her forehead delicately.

"Now go get ready," he tells her, turning her around and slapping her butt. She screams quietly and turns her head around, looking at him with a mean face.

"Don't do that Nicholas," she scolds, continuing to walk toward the duffel bag that she brought with her that has a set of clothes that she packed for school in it. She pulls the clothes from the bag and walks into the bathroom, again, and changes into her clothes. She checks her hair in the mirror and decides to pull it up into a decent looking ponytail, she does just that. When she's done getting ready and has already slipped her shoes on she walks into his bedroom, only to find him gone. She rolls her eyes and starts walking down the stairs to the living room.

When she gets there she sees Nick standing next to Denise, who has a slightly worried look on her face. Then she turns toward Miley and her expression softens. Denise walks over to Miley and presses her hand up against Miley's forehead.

"She doesn't seem sick to me Nick," she looks Miley in the eyes and moves her hand from her forehead down to her cheeks, feeling the slight warmth of them.

"Are you feeling okay honey? Nick told me you got sick this morning and that you aren't going to school, wait, why do you have your clothes on?" she looks down at her ensemble of clothes and back up to Miley's eyes, then she turns around and glares at Nick. She shakes her head slowly then laughs slightly.

"Okay Nick, I've figured it out, and even though I think it's wrong that your keeping Miley from school and taking her elsewhere, I'll allow you to do just that. Just promise me that if your dad asks that you tell him that I didn't know anything about this," she looks sternly at him and he nods.

"Sure thing," he walks toward his mom and embraces her in a hug. She hugs him back and then pulls away after a few seconds.

"I'll see you when I get home from work, I expect dinner to be cooked when I get here!" she talks loudly as she walks away from Miley and Nick and toward the door so that she can start heading to work. She shakes her head one last time, and laughs at her son's antics, then shuts the door behind her.

"Okay my love, everything's clear, and plan take you out is on," Miley shakes her head and laughs at his crazy words.

"That was the stupidest thing I think I have ever heard," she continues to laugh and he walks to her, lacing his hand with hers and walking out the door that Denise just walked out. They get in Nick's car and take off, a full day ahead of them.

**A/n: Okay, this one is probably kind of boring, BUT it has more niley in it =) so, that's always good. Next chapter will have some drama, so get ready for that… i'm sorry it's taken me a while but i've got cheerleading practice every stinking day and tons of homework, today's the first free day i've had in like.. 2 weeks.  
So, thanks for reading and review please, i always love your alls feedback**


	17. Chapter 17

**The Perfect Boyfriend**

**Chapter Seventeen**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing.

_When she's uncontrollable,_

_Get her away from the situation._

After an hour of driving Nick finally decides on where to take Miley, a nice little restaurant that sells her favorite thing- Pizza.

"Seriously, Nicholas? We drove around for an hour for you decide we should go to Miguel's?" she stares at him with disbelief and then her face turns up into a smile "It's great, you picked the best place," he rolls his eyes at her antics and gets out of the car. He moves his body quickly to the passenger side, opening the door for her. When she steps out he instantly places his hand on the small of her back and leads her toward the door to the pizza parlor.

They step inside the room and Miley's nose flares and she takes in a deep breath, taking in the wonderful smell of the grease-y pizza being baked right at that very moment. She takes Nick's hand, not wanting to waste any time and drags him to the counter so that they can order.

"May I take your order?" a younger lady standing behind the counter smiles at the couple and gets her fingers ready to write down their order.

"Umm, I'll take two slices with thin crust, mushrooms and black olives," Nick stares at her in disgust, mushrooms and olives together? She just giggles and shrugs his shoulders at him, then motions for him to tell the lady his order. He steps toward the counter and fills her in.

"Two slices, thin crust, and pepperoni," she rolls her eyes.

"You're so boring, seriously? Pepperoni, everybody get's pepperoni," he shakes his head at her as she continues to go on about people and pepperoni. While she's talking he grabs her hand and pulls her toward an empty table. She sits down in a chair and finishes her talk.

"What would you like to drink?" the lady at the counter had let Nick have their cups so that he could go ahead and get them filled up, now he had the paper cups in his hands, ready to fill them up.

"Umm, I'll take pink lemonade," she nods, assuring herself that, that's what she wants and he walks off back toward the counter and fills up the cups, one with pink lemonade and one with water. He makes his way back to the table and takes the seat in front of Miley. Miley looks in his cup and rolls her eyes.

"My gosh Nick, stop being so plain!" his smile brightened at her voice that filled the room again, it made him extremely happy to see her going on like this, maybe he'd prefer her to not be complaining about him, but he could live with it as long as she was happy.

"Stop being so different Miley!" he grins at her and she shakes her head.

"It's good to be different," she informs him, taking a sip of the pink liquid. The lady at the counter calls their number and Nick jumps up from his chair, walking back toward the counter. He takes the tray of four pieces of pizza and delivers it to their table.

"Mmm," Miley's eyes go wide when she smells and sees the delicious looking pizza. She takes her plate and instantly takes a big bite of the food, then she regrets it, the pizza burns the roof of her mouth and she drops the pizza quickly, swallowing the pizza as quickly as she can.

"Holy cow, that stuffs hot!" she grabs at her drink and gulps down half of the cup. Nick laughs at her and she throws a quick glare at him. She picks up her pizza again and starts blowing at the part where she plans to take her next bite. She puts her tongue to the food and when she notes that it's not too hot and not too cold she takes another bite. This time instead of the food burning the inside of her mouth, her taste buds deliver a signal to her brain, delicious.

**after pizza.**

The couple gets back inside Nick's car, tummy's full and laughs filtering through the air. They buckle themselves into the car and Nick sticks the key into the ignition, starting the car up and pulling out of the parking lot of the pizza parlor.

"So, what do you want to do now?" Nick looks over for a second, then turns his attention back toward the road. She takes her hand and puts it into his, lacing their fingers together. She looks up at him, admiring everything about him.

"I think we should get smoothies!" she squeals, pointing toward her favorite smoothie store that was approaching them.

"You can't seriously tell me that you are able to have a smoothie after all that pizza?" he looks over at her and she gives him a small puppy dog looks. "Good gracious Miles, you never cease to amaze me," he turns his blinker on, checks to see if anyone is coming his way and takes a swift curve, pulling into the drive thru lane of the smoothie shop.

"What kind do you want?" he looks over at her, after telling the guy working the drive thru to give them just a second. Miley thinks about it for a minute and then blurts out what she wants.

"Berry brainstorm smoothie," she nods at the choice and then relaxes back in her seat while Nick orders the drink. When he gets done and the person tells them to pull around he glances at her with a smirk.

"Berry brainstorm Miles? Everybody gets that," she smiles and chuckles a little laugh.

"Whatever Nick," he pulls up to the window and the guy working it is already standing there with the smoothie in his hand.

"Four dollars and seventy-five cents," he announces and Nick takes out a ten dollar bill.

"Just keep the change," the guy replies with a few thank-you's and Nick takes the drink, handing it to Miley. Miley smile brightly and starts sipping on the creamy drink. Nick pulls out of the drive thru and starts back on the road.

"Now Miley, where would you like to go, and please don't say the yogurt shop, I don't think you need any more food," she laughs at him and thinks about where she would like to go.

"I think we should back to my house and watch some TV, I feel kinda tired," if she was really tired she wasn't showing it but Nick obliges to her wishes and starts driving toward her house.

**at her house.**

Miley jumps out of the car, smoothie in hand, and walks to the front door. Nick soon follows behind her and Miley takes the key out from under the WELCOME mat and unlocks the door. They enter the house and Miley frowns at the emptiness, shouldn't Brandi be home? She shrugs her shoulders and starts walking up the stairs.

"I'll be right back Nick," she goes upstairs and starts hunting the house, when she peeks through her mother's bedroom she rolls her eyes. Her mom is passed out on the bed, a Vodka bottle rolled off the bed and busted all over the floor.

"Way to save money Mom," she shakes her head with disappointment and goes back down the hallway, looking inside Brandi's room. The room is completely empty and looks as if it was just deserted in the middle of sleep or something. Because Brandi ALWAYS makes her bed, and today, her bed hasn't been touched. Miley shrugs the thoughts off and heads back downstairs, she sees Nick already on the couch with the television flipped on.

She smile and walks over to him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and sitting down on his lap. She leans up slightly, kissing his cheek tenderly. He smiles at her touch and places his hand securely on her leg, pulling her closer. He kisses the tip of her nose and then they go back to watching the TV.

"I think we should watch channel 180," Miley suggests, reaching for the remote in Nick's hand.

"And why's that?" he asks, not allowing her to take the remote from him, knowing exactly why she wants to watch that channel.

"Well, there's a marathon on of the Gilmore Girls and I would reallllyyyy like to watch it," she grins at him and reaches for the remote one more time. This time he lets her have it and she switches the channel, she removes herself from Nick's lap, ready to engage in one of her favorite TV shows. He shakes his head slightly and wraps his arm around her shoulder, using his free hand to lace his fingers with hers.

Just as Miley is getting really interested into the show Nick decides that he's bored and starts kissing her, anywhere and everywhere, he starts at her neck, biting at her skin lightly when he pulls away from the kiss and then rises up to her jaw, kissing her tender skin down to her chin, from there he moves on up and just a tad bit over, capturing the corner of her lips in a kiss. She giggles at him and wraps her arms around his neck, placing her forehead on his.

"What are you doing Nicky? I'm enjoying the show," she bites her lip and kisses his lips sweetly.

"I don't like this show," he tells her, rotating her so that she's in front of him, straddling his waist. She shakes her head at him and leans down, kissing him full on, he deepens the kiss and pulls her as close as he possibly can to him.

"Mmm," she licks his lip as he hand starts to travel up her shirt, his hand making small circles on her back. He opens his mouth for her and their tongues go into full battle mode. The makeout session was so close to getting extremely heated that neither of them would of suggested that what happened next to happen, in fact, neither of them would of wanted this to happen, period.

Brandi walks through the door, her hair a mess, her makeup smeared down her face and her clothes tattered. She spots her sister and instantly panics, this can't be happening to her, she can't see her like this. No, no, no. She tries to make it up the stairs without Miley's noticing but Miley notices everything.

"Brandi, where have you been?" she takes in Brandi's appearance and frowns, was she at a bar? Because that's what it kind of looked like…

"Umm, I was just … out, with some friends," Miley looks at her with disbelief. Slowly, Miley removes herself from Nick's embrace and walks up to her sister. Brandi takes a big gulp, preparing herself with what was coming.

"You were not, don't lie to me Brandi!" Miley quickly becomes aggravated with her sister and looks at her deeply, concentrating on the look in her eyes.

"Just, Miles, calm down okay?" Brandi places a hand on her sister's shoulder, attempting to cool her down before letting the news break. She didn't want to let her sister know what kind of filthy person she was but she was busted, there was no way of getting out of this one with a lie and Miley not figuring out about it, she just had to come clean and hope she took it well.

"Okay, I'll calm down, just as long as you tell me the truth," Brandi nods at Miley and motions for her to go sit down on the couch. Miley takes a seat beside Nick and Brandi sits down on another seat. Normally, Brandi would ask Nick to leave so that she could tell her sister this secret in private, but she knew it was no use, that Miley would run to Nick first and he would know instantly so she might as just tell them both at the same time.

"We don't have enough money now that dad's gone Miles, if I didn't find a job quick after he left we wouldn't have made it as far as we have. We would've had to the left the house and we might possibly be living out of the street. And with the shape that mom's in I sure as heck couldn't go jobless. So I called up an old friend, he told me that if I ever needed quick money that he knew people and he could make it happen. So, I turned to him. Turns out, his work wasn't anyone's cup of tea. But I'd already signed a contract Miles and if I didn't continue working with him then I would lose a lot of money." She takes a deep breath, tears start to fall from her eyes and she can only imagine what kind of person Miley is going to look at her as after this.

"So, what do you do?" Miley already had the sense that it was bad, but it couldn't be as bad as what she was doing, could it?

"Miles, I know it sounds bad but you have to remember the family, okay?" Miley nods, "I sleep with people… for money," Miley's eyes widen to a whole new level, she couldn't believe her ears, there's no way that her sister does that, she knows better.

"You sleep with people? Like, you have sex with guys you don't even know just because you needed a job!" Miley's voice raises and she jumps up from her seat. Tears rapidly fall down her sister's cheeks as she nods at Miley's questions. "A prostitute! I can't believe you! You know better than that Brandi! Who are you?" tears start to build up in Miley's eyes now and she moves toward her sister, furious with what she's just heard. "And I thought mom was bad, you're ten times worse!" Nick realizes that everything is getting way out of hand and he quickly stands up, wrapping his arms around Miley's waist and pulling her away from her sister.

"Miles, you need to calm down," Miley's head shakes rapidly, her whole body shakes and she can't keep control of anything. Her knees start to feel weak but she refuses to let them collapse from underneath her.

"Get me out of here Nick, this house is full of nasty, undeserving people!" her voice is shake-y and more tears fall from her eyes, Nick decides that it's best to take her now as she wishes so that she can cool off a little bit before she comes back to talk to her sister about the situation in a calm, collected matter.

Once they're outside Miley's house Nick pulls Miley up into a bridal carrying position and carries her to his house, her chest heaves hysterically and all he can do is whisper soothing things, trying to get her to calm down before she has a panic attack. They reach Nick's house and he brings her in, placing her carefully down on the couch. He sits down beside her shake-y figure and strokes her hair.

"Shhh, baby, calm down," she rolls her back toward him and sticks her head next to the crack of the couch, continuing to cry. Nick decides to let her cry, because sometimes, that's the best thing to do, the best way to let any emotion out. She needed to cry and he was willing to let her. So he sat there, watching as all the pain comes out, trying to keep the tears that were threatening to fall from his eyes from doing so.

**A/n: **So, personally I think this my new favorite chapter. I loved writing it & I hope you all love reading it just as much.

This is your (early) Christmas present from me =)  
Send me presents back, I prefer my presents to be reviews. ;)


	18. Chapter 18

**The Perfect Boyfriend**

**Chapter Eighteen**

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

**a/n: **200 REVIEWS! YEAH! You guys are awesome. So I decided to be awesome. 2 posts in one week! How great is that?

_When she tells you not to worry about something…_

_Let the subject drop and just comfort her_

Miley Stewart walks into the club that she works at, a frown set upon her face, which is tear-streaked. Really, she looks awful, but no one is willing their selves to tell her that. Her giant bag that she calls her purse is thrown across her shoulder, weighing her down on one side. She's lost a tremendous amount of weight, but no one will tell her that either. Miley walks into the dressing room that she shares with Mandy and a couple other girls. Mandy immediately runs up to her friend, wrapping her in a hug.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" Miley just shakes her head, signaling to Mandy that she doesn't want to talk about it and walks over to the clothing rack, picking up the skimpy 'clothing', if you can call it that, which has her name on it. She strips from her clothes quickly and slips the new ones on. Mandy just watches her with a concerned look on her face.

"Can you hand me the cherry red lipstick?" Miley asks, walking over to the vanity. She takes a wash cloth, cleaning her face clean of the remains of her tears. Then she starts applying her foundation, careful to spread it equally so that her face isn't streaked.

"Here you go," Mandy hands her the tube of lip stick and Miley takes it, applying it to her lips when she's done with her foundation. When she's done with the lip stick she hands it back to Mandy. Then she goes for her eyes, applying a bright blue color to match her outfit.

"Sweetie, maybe you should take the night off, you're acting as if you've had a rough night and I'm not sure what's happened but it could affect your performance and Peter wouldn't be happy about that." Mandy looks her deep in the eye, gripping onto her arm lightly.

"I have to do this Many, he's going to get mad at me either way. He doesn't like it when his workers take off, especially for stupid reasons. So, either way I'm going to get yelled at, but if I go ahead and do it at least I'll be getting money too," A sigh rips from her throat when she gets done.

"Okay, just try your best out there," Mandy walks away, so that she can do her own make up. Miley stands there for a minute, looking at herself in the mirror.

"I'm such a hypocrite," she talks to herself in the mirror, tears start forming in her eyes but she quickly fans them away, not wanting to do her make up again. She shakes her head and pulls the hair band out of her hair, letting her long brown curls fall down her back. She takes the hairspray and poufs her hair up a little bit.

"Stripper hair," she rolls her eyes and looks back at herself again, she looks at herself in disgust. How could she do this? Better yet, how could she yell at her sister for being a prostitute when she was over here taking her clothes off in front of guys?

She shakes her head quickly, shaking off the thoughts and winces when she hears a woman yelling at them that they were on in five minutes.

"I don't think I can do this," she whispers, then she takes off, going to search for Mandy. She spots her, applying some glitter to her hair. She sees Miley coming at her in the mirror and turns around to greet her.

"I can't do this Mandy, this isn't me, I feel awful. I'm lying to the guy I love, I'm practically cheating on him!" her voice is in a whisper but she's yelling at the same time, her face shows all the pain that she's feeling. She can't stand this; she needs to find something else.

"Then quit," Mandy shrugs, turning back toward the vanity mirror to apply more glitter to her hair.

"I can't! I have to have money, my family has to have money, it's either that or lose everything we have and live out on the streets." Mandy thinks it through, trying to come up with something.

"Okay, listen, here's what you're going to do, you're going to continue doing this until you find another job, I'll even help you find one," the woman announces that they need to get back stage, so Miley and Mandy start walking together toward the entrance to the back stage.

"I tried that, every job I applied for I got turned down because I was too young," Miley rolls her eyes as they go inside the door, heading toward the curtain to line up.

"Well, you could always deal drugs," Mandy shrugs then looks over at Miley, they both shake their heads 'no' and get in their spot of the line.

"I don't know Miles, there's nothing else I can think of. Did you try for a job at the movie store? They'll usually hire pretty young," Miley nods.

"They won't hire unless you're past the age of eighteen," Miley sighs and gulps as the curtain opens.

"I'll try to think of something and I'll talk to some people and see what I can do, just do your best out there," Mandy says, giving her a reassuring pat on her back. Miley takes a deep breath and walks toward the curtain, stepping out onto the hard surface, lights blinding her immediately.

The entire time she's walking toward her spot her mind is rattling, she can't stop thinking back to the yelling fest she had with her sister, and how harsh she was on her. She shouldn't have said half of the things she did, her sister is in the same situation she is in. She needs money for the family and she's doing what she can to manage that. She doesn't want to sleep with people, just like Miley doesn't want to take off her clothes in front of other people. She's so distracted that she doesn't place her foot right and her ankle bends to an excruciating painful angle.

She sucks in her breath, and bites down on her lip as hard as she can, so hard that she can taste the blood spreading throughout her mouth. She twists her foot back up, wincing at the pain that spreads through her leg and continues her walk. Each step sends a new shot of pain, but she tries her best to ignore it. Tears are filling up in her eyes and she tries to blink them away, but one manages to slip. It slides down her face and off of her chin, colliding with the counter top.

She looks out into the 'audience' and spots Peter, her boss, glaring at her. She's already screwed her performance up and she knows it. She closes her eyes for a few seconds, pushes all the pain away and rids her eyes of tears. Then finishes her walk, standing directly in her designated spot for the night.

The music picks up its pace and she does what she's supposed to do, but not with ease. Every other night she's done great, pulling her clothes off with no trouble. But tonight, she's got too much on her mind and it takes her a minute too long to rid of her top, well, her lacy purple bra.

Needless to say, Peter wasn't happy about everything she had done wrong, and he was going to let her know just how unhappy he was about it right after she got off that stage. He informed a worker back stage to send Miley to his office as soon as she got back there and the worker assured him that she would do just that.

Miley stepped behind the curtain, breathing deeply, she took the towel that was being handed to her and quickly wrapped it around her petite frame. She walked slowly down the stairs and was greeted to a small red-headed girl.

"Peter would like to see you in his office, right now," she smiles at Miley and then walks away, helping other girls to get back to their dressing room. Miley sighs and starts walking toward the dreaded place. She doesn't bother to change into her clothes, because she doesn't want to make him wait, that would only make him madder.

When she walks into his office he's already sitting behind his desk, a grim look on his face.

"Miley, Miley, Miley," he shakes his head in disappointment, getting up from his seat and walking toward her. He looks her deep in the eye, a grin set upon his lips.

"You looked awful out there, and my customers don't pay for awful. I don't pay you to look awful!" his voice raises at every word that comes from his mouth and the veins in his forehead start to pop out.

"I'm really sorry, I just had a lot on my mind and--" he raises his hand quickly, slapping her across the cheek. She gasps involuntarily and holds her cheek, bending over slightly.

"Don't tell me your reasons! I could care less! You don't bring your problems to work! Understand?" Miley's breathing escalated, her cheek tingling.

"Yes sir," her voice is shake-y, and unsure. She doesn't want to stay in this place any longer than she has to; she's got to find another job, somewhere, anywhere.

"I don't think you understand," he bends down, looking her in the eye once again.

"You're a weakling, you know that? You're too young for this! You're lucky I accepted you! You've got to live up to your standards Miley! People are counting on you here!" he feels as if she's not listening to him good enough so he takes another swing, but this time he doesn't slap her, he punches her, square in the jaw.

Miley can instantly taste the blood, the metallic taste of it running down her throat making her sick at her stomach.

"Listen to me!" he screams, she looks up at him, scared for her life. She never thought that Peter was violent; she knew he had a temper but she never thought he would resort to hitting someone.

"Don't you come in this building your next day of work with your problems bothering you! Get rid of your problems, take a pill to make you forget, I don't care! Forget about it somehow! Because one more performance like that and I can promise you that won't like me at all after that," he removes himself from the front of her and walks back to his seat behind his desk, sitting down in it. And he's calm, just like that.

"I'll see you the day after tomorrow," he smiles at her and she nods, running as fast as you can with a hurt ankle and only a towel on to her dressing room. Once she reaches there she goes directly to her clothes, picking them up and slipping them onto her body. She picks up her hair tie and piles her hair up in a messy bun. She grabs her purse and walks quickly out the exit door, going straight to her vehicle. The key is placed into the ignition and the car rumbles to life. Slowly, the car pulls out of the parking lot and she heads toward Nick's house.

Five minutes later Miley pulls up in Nick's driveway, she takes multiple deep breaths, trying to get it together before she exits the car. She shakes her head slightly and pulls the key out, shoving them down in her purse. She shoulders her purse and gets out of her car, walking toward the front door. Her hand wraps around the door knob and she pulls the door open, closing it behind her then walking straight up to Nick's room.

He watches carefully as she enters the room, noticing how tense her body is and the bluish looking mark covering the right side of her face. Nick gets up from the bed quickly and walks over to her, examining the bruise, taking note that it was very large and in the form of fingers.

"Baby, what happened?" he caresses her cheek and she just shakes her head, the memory of Peter swiping her hard coming back to her mind, tears overcome her eyes and start rolling down her face. She feels as if she's cried way too many times in front of him in the last few months, but she can't it, never in her life has she wanted to cry as much as she has here lately. And she has a feeling that she's going to be crying a lot more, especially if she can't get away from her job.

"Tell me what happened and I'll take care of it," Nick obviously knew that some other person had done this to her, and he wasn't going to let them get away with it under any circumstances. No one hurts his Miley and gets away with it.

"It's nothing, really," Miley's voice cracks and she starts to cry harder.

"Was it your mom? Was she drunk again?" Miley shakes her head 'no' and moves away from him, walking over to his bed and lying down.

"Then who was it?" he asks, going over to her on the bed and sitting down in front of her. He turns his body that he can see her face and he strokes her hair.

"Don't worry about it Nick," she looks up at him and he can see the pure fear, she's scared to death and he's scared for her. He gets in the bed with her, covering them with a blanket and wraps his arms around her waist, pulling her close to him. He uses his hand to move the hair that has fallen from her hair tie out of her face and leans down, kissing her forehead. Then he moves his hand back around her waist and rubs small circles on her back. Miley rests her head on his chest and snuggles her body closer to his, wrapping her around his.

**A/n:** Once again, thanks for 200 reviews, I just can't hardly believe it! I wasn't planning on 200 until like… chapter 24 or something! But I got it at chapter 17! YEAH!

So, this is… another Christmas present. How's that? Haha.

I still want more presents back :)

I plan on, if I have enough time, updating again sometime next week. And then again before the tenth of January (because that's my birthday, and I like to give gifts on my birthday haha, I'm weird) but, anyways. I'm going to quit rambling now.

THANK YOU FOR 200 REVIEWS!!! I will never be able to say it enough…


	19. Chapter 19

**The Perfect Boyfriend**

**Chapter Nineteen**

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

Nick lies in the bed, stroking Miley's hair as she sleeps. You can tell that she was crying the night before and the bruise on her cheek only got bigger as the night progressed. Nick's fingers unlace from her hair and move toward her cheek, gently caressing the dark blue mark. He props his head up with his hand, looking down at her with complete worry. He knows she isn't telling him something; he just can't figure out what that something is.

He knows he can't pressure her into telling him, he's not the type to do that. He's been waiting patiently for her to tell him, knowing that when the time is right that she would spill the beans. But here lately he's been questioning if that time will ever come. He doesn't like to think of the possibilities; he doesn't like to imagine what she could be doing. He has to trust her, that's what he thinks. He looks at her face one last time, notices the frown set upon her lips and removes himself from the bed quietly so that he doesn't wake her up. He tip toes from the room, walking out into the hallway where he runs his fingers through his hair, sighing lightly.

"Nick?" his mom's voice echoes down the hallway, she's standing in her bedroom doorway staring at him curiously.

"Yeah Mom?" he turns to face her; she immediately knows that something is wrong. She knows her son like he knows himself. She moves down the hallway until she is in arms reach of him.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?" she places her hand on his face, moving her thumb in a soothing motion. The sweetness gets to him; he knows what's going to happen next, no matter how hard he tries to prevent it from happening.

The tears spill over, rushing down his cheeks like water coming free from a dam. Denise's arms wrap around his waist, pulling him into her and whispering to him 'shh' she doesn't know what could be so bad that Nick would cry. Especially in front of her. He's always been one to hide his emotions to his best abilities, the only time she'd saw him cry when he was out of his childhood was when his Grandfather had died in a car accident. And the only reason he had cried then was because they were so close.

"Let's go down to the living room and sit down okay?" her voice is soft, concerned, her heart aches just seeing him in this condition. He nods as best as he can and wipes at his eyes, already feeling like a coward for coming undone like this.

They reach the living room and take a seat on the couch beside each other. Denise rests her hand on his back, moving her fingers around to try and make him feel just the slightest bit better.

"Did something happen with Miley?" that's the first thing that comes into mind when she thinks about why he would be like this. But when she says this all she gets is a shrug of his shoulders.

"I don't know Mom," his face scrunches together, then he closes his eyes, a few tears leaking out as he does so.

"What do you mean you don't know?" he takes a minute to get himself together and then he opens his mouth again, but his eyes remain shut.

"She won't tell me what's going on, I don't know how to help her if I don't know what's going on," he shakes his head a little bit. One more tear, Two more tears.

"I'm so confused Nicholas, of course you know what's going on. Her dad left, her family is having major finance-" he cuts her off, his eyes finally coming undone as he stares at her with his answer.

"No, no, it's not that. I'm aware of that. It's something else Mom. Listen, last night she came here crying with a giant bruise on her cheek. When I asked her what happened she wouldn't answer me, she just said 'Don't worry about it Nick' well how can I not worry about something like that? Huh? And not every night, but most nights, she's out till 1:30 in the morning. She doesn't get home until that late and I'm just told not to worry! I trust her mom, I really do, but I'm left to wonder if maybe I'm not enough for her, that maybe she's had to find someone else because-" his voice gets choked up and he can't finish the sentence. Denise looks at him, a tear of her own running down her cheek. She quickly wipes it away before he can see it and wraps her arms around him.

"Oh sweetheart, no, Miley would never do something like that to you. She loves you, I can tell. She'll tell you when the time is right," once again Nick cuts her off. They both think alike, that one day will be the right day and she'll fill him in.

"I've been waiting for a long time! I've been patient with her and I haven't demanded her to tell me what's going on. I'm starting to think that she's just never going to tell me, she's not going to let me know," his head falls into the crook of her neck, more tears falling from his eyes as he starts to break down again.

'I feel like such a girl' it runs through his mind, this is something that he sees girls doing all the time. Girl's show their emotions much easier than guys do that's for sure. He feels weak, useless. How can Miley rely on him to help her through this when he can't even stand her not telling him something that's probably not even that big of a deal? But then again, it could be a really big deal.

**with miley.**

Her body rolls over in the bed, expecting to fill Nick in her arms but instead she feels the warmth that he's left behind. She takes in his scent that fills the pillow for a few minutes and then gets up from the bed, stretching her limbs and walking over the mirror in Nick's bedroom.

She takes one quick glance in the mirror at her swollen face and turns away, not able to look at the picture staring back at her. Her hand pulls up to her face and presses against the bruise slightly. Pain rips through her cheek, and she winces.

_Ice._ She thinks, that'll stop the pain and make the swelling go down.

She slips on a pair of Nick's sweat pants and a dark purple tank top before she walks out of Nick's bedroom, heading toward the stairs. She hears people talking and realizes that it's probably Denise considering she has to leave for work soon. She begins her walk down the stairs, but comes to a complete halt when she sees what's in front of her.

Nick's crying; Nick never cries. Her hands begin to shake as she hears the words rip from his throat, the words that pain her to hear.

"She doesn't get home until that late and I'm just told not to worry! I trust her mom, I really do, but I'm left to wonder if maybe I'm not enough for her, that maybe she's had to find someone else," that's all she hears, the tears have already hit her hard and she doesn't need to hear anything else.

She throws herself on the bed, curling up in a ball and crying into the pillow. What's left of her mascara from the night before is smeared on the white pillow now. Sobs rip from her body and she can barely catch a breath from all the tears.

"This is all your fault," she starts scolding herself; she knows that it will only make her feel worse but it's what she thinks to be true.

"You went to that club, you're a stupid idiot," the crying gets worse. She squeezes her eyes shut, trying to keep the tears from escaping anymore.

"I've ruined his pillow, I'm ruining him, I'm ruining everything," her voice gets choked up and she gets up from the bed. She pulls her boots onto her feet and pulls her jacket over her arms. She knows that she should exit the house from the balcony right outside Nick's room but she can't see through her tears and she fears falling from the tree that she has to climb down to get to the bottom. So she decides to try to sneak out the front door, thinking that she'll be successful.

So she starts her walk, again, to the stairs. She can still hear them talking from the top but she takes a deep breath, and tip toes as quietly as she can down the stairs. She manages to get into the living room without them noticing her but when she starts to make her way toward the door Denise catches her.

"Miley, sweetie, what are you doing?" her voice is always so kind. Miley thinks to herself 'She probably thinks I'm cheating on him too, she probably thinks the exact same way he does she's just not letting it show' Miley turns around, looking at Denise with her red puffy eyes. She looks down at her feet, knocking them together, a nervous habit that she has.

"I'm going home," her voice is barely above a whisper but Denise and Nick both hear her reply. Nick wipes at his eyes quickly, he may have cried in front of his mom but he refuses to let her see him like this. He gets up from his spot on the couch and walks over to her, taking him in his arms.

"Why are you leaving?" he rubs his hands up and down her arms and kisses the top of her head, he lets all the doubts he had moments ago to slip into the back of his mind.

"You don't want me here," a few tears slip from her eyes and fall from her face, landing on his foot. He feels it and pulls her closer, his hands resting on the small of her back.

"Of course I want you here, baby, why wouldn't I want you here?" he feels her back move unevenly as she tries to catch her breath through the sobs. But she never replies to him, she just shakes her head and tries to pull away from his embrace.

Instead of trying to keep her trapped there or trying to talk to her he bent down, placing one hand in the bend of her knees and the other on her back. Swiftly, he pulls her up into a carrying position and walks her back up to his room, laying her down on his bed.

"Why do you think I don't want you here Miles?" she bites her lip, avoiding his gaze and keeping her focus on a certain spot in the ceiling.

"You think I'm cheating on you," her voice cracks multiple times just through those six words.

"You heard me talking to mom," realization hits him and his eyes close, he never wanted her to see him in that sort of mess and he definitely never meant for her to hear those words.

"No baby, I don't think you're cheating on me, I was just rambling," she shakes her head vigorously, tears continuing to fall down her face.

"You meant it, I know you did. And I don't blame you, this is all my fault," he leans down, kissing her head once again and letting his lips linger there on her skin for a few seconds.

"You're not are you?" he whispers, closing his eyes once again and resting his forehead on hers.

"No, Nick, no, of course not, I would never do that to you, I love you and no one else," he can tell that she's telling the truth, he knows he can trust her. That just confirmed it once again.

"I'm sorry I ever doubted you baby, I should never do that," he kisses her nose, making her giggle a little bit and the tears to slowly subside.

"I want to tell you Nick, I really do, I just can't, not right now," she bites her lip, looking down slightly, she feels awful for making him feel like this and making him wait when she knows that she should tell him about it because the longer she lets it go on the longer it's going to hurt him but she can't find it in her to let him know.

"It's okay Miles, I can wait, I'll wait, just as long as you tell me as some point in time," she nods in reply, leaning toward him and kissing his lips for only a little while.

He smiles slightly and moves his lips toward hers again, he lingers there for a few seconds, letting her hot breath run over his skin and then he leans down, closing the space between them and capturing her in a breath taking kiss.

**A/n: **The end was a tad bit corny I think, but you got some of Nick's feelings in this, just like you were asking for =). I hope you liked it.  
follow me on twitter. i've decided to start posting spoilers there :) twitter . com / JBlvrr  
thanks for all the reviews, you all are truly amazing.


	20. Chapter 20

**The Perfect Boyfriend**

**Chapter Twenty**

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

_When she changes something,_

_Be honest about how you feel._

Miley walks slowly into the hair salon, taking in the scent of random hair products. She bites her lip softly, she's never done anything drastic to her hair but this time, she was told, it was mandatory. She takes a seat where other girls are waiting for their appointments and drops her purse to the floor. To keep herself busy, and from running from the salon she takes her cell phone out, playing a game.

"Miley?" her name echoes through her ears a few minutes later and she stands up from her seat, sitting in the one that the stylist is pointing her to. Her hands are shaking wildly and she looks around with nervous eyes.

"What do you want done today?" the woman is polite looking, Miley decides, and she shrugs her shoulders.

"I don't really know, just do whatever you want," Miley takes a deep breath, closing her eyes.

"Do you want me to just cut a few inches off, or do you want some highlights? Give me some sort of idea," she takes a deep breath and turns toward the lady.

"This wasn't my idea, I don't want anything done to my hair but I have to so just do something to it that you think will look good and get it over with," she doesn't mean to sound as harsh as she does but she can't help it. She watches as the woman shrugs her shoulders and starts spraying her hair with some water. She winces at the sight of the scissors and then she winces even more when hears them snipping at her hair.

"_Your hair looks awful," Peter yells at her, getting close to her face. He takes a lock of her hair in his hands and grimaces._

"_Split ends galore and it's entirely too long, have you ever been to a strip club before you came here? Huh? Girls with long hair have difficulties up there, you need shorter hair so that you can perform better," Miley curls her toes in her shoes, trying her best not to let her anger take over her body. She loves her hair, she's took years to grow it out to the length it is now, she can't just get it all snipped off now._

"_I'm making you a hair appointment with my stylist," he takes his phone out and punches a few buttons then puts the phone back into his pant pocket._

"_She'll take care of you this Saturday at 9:00, you better not be late," one of his eyebrows perks up as he looks at her, she's scared to death that things are going to wind up where they were the other day. The bruise still cover her cheek and he laughs when he sees it._

"_Be sure to cover that up before you go on stage," he slaps her cheek quickly, and her eyes squeeze shut, pain sears through her face._

"_You can leave now," she gets up from her seat carefully, heading to the dressing room to prepare for the night's events._

"All done," the lady announces, spinning her chair around so that she can see herself in the mirror. Tears come to her eyes, but she bites her lip, not wanting to make the woman feel bad. Because in all honesty, the lady did a great job with her hair, it just wasn't Miley.

Her hair fell now just below her shoulders, the bottom layer of her hair had been dyed a dark, almost black, color and she had blonde highlights throughout the rest of her hair.

"Thanks," she grabs her purse quickly, throwing the amount due at the woman and flies from the salon, going directly to her car. The tears rush from her eyes now, not only had this job cost her the pain of hurting Nick but it had cost her, her hair too. She shakes her head slightly and puts the key into the ignition, pulling away from the hair salon.

**with brandi.**

Her body shakes as she walks up the stairs to a brick house, you'd think that she'd get use to this after a while. But then Miley's words hit her like a ton of bricks, she's undeserving, and a prostitute. She's worse than her mom, and her mom's bad off. She shakes the thoughts quickly, knowing that she can't let this get in her way. But she can't help but to continue to wonder even after those thoughts leave her mind, will she ever see me as her sister again? Will she ever forgive me?

Her hand rises from her body and knocks quickly on the door, twice. The door opens and a head pops out, he smiles when he sees Brandi and offers his hand to her.

"We've missed you these last two days Brandi, may I ask where you disappeared to?" his face shows a bit of anger as he opens the door wider, allowing her to step into the dark house. He keeps his hand wrapped around hers as he leads her into a doorway.

"I was sick," she's already thought up of a whole story that she can tell him about where she's been if he asks. Because she knows that afterwards, he'll be on her case. She has been ignoring his phone calls… and his texts…

"Are you feeling better?" she nods slightly and he nods with her, they finally reach the room that he's been leading her to and he knocks lightly on the door. Faintly, they hear a 'come in'. The man leaves Brandi alone now, and she takes a deep breath, slipping through the door and gazing down at her next 'patient'.

"Hey baby," he gets up from the bed that he's laying on and walks up to the lady that he doesn't even know.

"Hey," her voice is seductive, mysterious. Instantly, he's craving her. His hands slip around her waist and down to her butt, he squeezes lightly and she purrs her lips against his skin. The man picks Brandi up; his hands still placed firmly against her butt, and carries her over to the bed. He lies down on the bed, allowing her to crawl up on top of him, straddling his torso. She leans down, so that her hot breath can be felt against his face. Then she starts placing lingering kisses on his neck and up to his lips.

A moan escapes his mouth as she starts her way back down his neck, biting lightly at the skin before stripping him from his shirt then moving her lips farther down his body. Her lips reach the top of his jeans and she unbuttons the clothing with ease, he kicks the material off his body and starts removing Brandi's shirt for her. His mouth drops at the sight and she keeps herself from sighing, it's always the same. Never once does a guy just continue, he has to look at her body, like she's something to eat.

Clothing is scarce now, the pieces lying randomly around the room. The guy underneath Brandi is panting wildly while she sucks quickly on his neck.

John Doe decides he's had enough, he's ready to do it, and he _wants_ her inside of him, right now. So, he enters into her, without a warning or a second thought.

Brandi removes her lips from his neck, biting down on her lip hard. She shuts her eyes, cursing at herself as a tear streams slowly down her cheek.

**with miley.**

She walks inside her 'second home', shaking slightly from her previous crying. Her tears have evaporated now but her cheeks are still tear streaked. She begins to wonder if she'll ever be able to see Nick again without some sort of tears coming into play.

She walks quickly up to his room, the door is closed and she hesitates at the door, afraid of his reaction of her new hair. He always told her how much he loved her hair, her long, flowing, _brown_, hair. Now all that was gone, she looked like a totally different person. And she can't help but wonder if he would still love her, even after she had changed her looks. Would he still want to be with her?

She takes a deep breath and closes her hand around the door knob, turning it painfully slow. The door sluggishly opens, revealing her to his bedroom. She notices quickly that his bedroom is empty, but that his bathroom light is shining brightly. She walks over to the bathroom and spots him. He's only wrapped in a towel, and she knows that she should give him some warning that she's here, letting him put on his pants so that he can come and visit her, but she needs to know what he thinks _right now._

She steps in front of the bathroom so that she's in clear view for him to see. He doesn't realize that she's standing there at first but he catches a quick glimpse at the girl in his mirror and does a double take.

"Miley?" she can tell by the way his voice sounds that he's questioning whether it's her standing there or some other girl that he doesn't even know. He turns around, away from the sink and looks at her for a few seconds before moving across the bathroom so that he's standing right in front of her, a mere two inches from her body.

"What happened?" he takes her hair into his hands, gazing down at the new mix of colors and the shortened length of her curly hair that's now straight.

"I- uh- I went to the hair salon," she states, shrugging her shoulders carelessly. She glances down at her fingers, playing with them to keep her from looking at his intense gaze.

"Baby, why'd you do this?" He places his fingers underneath her chin, pushing it up so that he can see her eyes.

"I just wanted- I wanted a change," _lie_. She bites the inside of her jaw, hoping that he can't see through her. He can of course, but he doesn't let her know this. He wraps his arms around her neck and pulls her head into his chest, kissing the top of her newly dyed hair softly.

"Do you hate it?" she asks, knowing that he does, but wanting to hear it from him. She keeps her head pinned against his chest as he takes a deep breath.

"I don't hate it Miles, I just liked it better the way it was before," he explains, hoping that he doesn't hurt her feelings by saying this. What she says next surprises him.

"I hate it too."

**A/n:** I don't know if that was a good place to stop or not, but… oh well.

Twitter . com /Jblvrr :)  
My birthday is in 2 days! I'm going to be fifteen years old. So, normally on your birthday you get presents. :) & I'm giving you a present for my birthday so that you can review and give me a present back, that sounds like a fair deal to me, doesn't it you?

Cheerleading Regional's are on the 24th & I'm going to be practicing every day. Here lately we've been having a bunch of snow days but when we do have to go to school I'm not going to have time to write, so there's really no telling when I'll be able to update or anything. But don't give up on me! I'll get here eventually.

Now, give me presents! :)


	21. Chapter 21

**The Perfect Boyfriend**

**Chapter Twenty-One**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing.

**Happy Birthday Team M!**

Sometimes secrets about your own family just keep coming out. Like rain pouring from the sky; the secrets just keep coming and they don't seem to want to stop. But there's got to be an end to the secrets eventually, right?

**-xoxo-**

"I'm going to go home for a few minutes and get some more stuff and then I'll be right over, okay?" Miley informs her boyfriend, her hands interlaced with his as they stand in front of her house.

"Okay, I'll see you in a few," he leans down and kisses her sweetly on the lips before pulling away from their embrace and walking toward his own house. Miley stands there for a few minutes, watching him walk away from her. Then she takes a deep breath and walks up to the front door of her house, _Please dear God let me get in and out quietly_, she grabs hold of the door knob and walks inside. Ready for anything… or so she thought.

As soon as she got completely inside the living room she dropped her arms to her side and allowed her mouth to open in the form of an O.

"Mom?" her voice as shake-y as she looks at the scene before her, it's not something anyone would want to see. Especially when you're the daughter of the woman taking part in it. Her mom lifts her head and smiles at Miley, her eyes glazed over.

"Hey Miley," seconds of eye contact with her does enough and she lowers her head once again, connecting her lips to the man's underneath her. There they were, both completely naked doing God knows what on the couch, the couch that Miley sits on and sometimes sleeps on. Miley takes a deep breath and walks over to the two naked people. It was obvious that her mom was completely out of it and didn't know what she was doing and the man underneath her was the exact same way.

"Get up, right now!" her voice came out powerful, she'd always thought that she was weak but she was going to be strong through this, because this was just plain wrong. _They could of at least took it to the bedroom_, Miley thinks, still towering over them.

"Go away Miles," her mom giggles, leaning down once again to place sloppy kisses on the man's chest.

"Mom, I swear, if you don't get up right now I'm going to… kick you out!" she thinks about it for a second, realizes that it should be her mom telling her this instead of the other way around, but she's taken it overboard, Miley's fed up now.

"You can't kick me out Miley, this is MY house!" her mom gets up from the man, revealing all of their glory for the world to see. But Miley isn't focused on that, she keeps her hard eyes on her mom's.

"This isn't your house anymore Mom! You haven't been working for months! The only two people that have kept this place up are me and Brandi! So I can kick you out if I want to Mother, because you don't own this place anymore!" her mom stumbles back at her harsh words and starts giggling like crazy. Miley looks at her with disbelief then turns toward the stairs when she hears Brandi coming down.

"What's going on here?" she asks, staring with wide eyes at her naked mother.

"Your sister here thinks that she can kick me out of my house!" her mom's laughter continues to float through the room. Miley looks over at the naked guy and realizes that he's passed out with his tongue sticking out of his mouth, she rolls her eyes. _You picked a real winner there Mom._

"Why are you kicking her out?" she glances at Miley.

"I'm fed up with her! Look! She's sleeping with guys on the couch! She hasn't been paying the bills Brandi, we have! She might as well leave; she isn't doing us any good! She's doing more harm than anything," Brandi's eyes soften at her sister's broken face. She can tell that she's trying to stay strong but that what she really wants to do is crawl under a rock and bawl her eyes out. And even though they're in a 'fight' right now, she really wants to be there to protect her.

"Miles," her voice is soft and she slowly walks over to her sister.

"You better not take her side Brandi!" her eyes well up with tears, starting to feel betrayed, she knows what she's talking about and she knows that Brandi feels the exact same way. Meanwhile, Tish has quit giggling and is sitting down on the couch, trying to figure out how to put her bra back on.

"I'm not taking anyone's side Miley. I know that she's doing more harm than good right now but she's our Mom, we can't just push her out onto the streets!" Brandi's voice is gentle, concerned. She slowly places her hand on Miley's arm. Surprisingly, Miley doesn't push her away.

"She needs some sense knocked into her; we can't just go on letting her act like this!" Miley is not only furious at her mom but she's genuinely concerned about her.

"I know Miles, and we will. We won't let her continue like she has been, we'll help her but not by putting her out of the house. She'll come around with our help, okay?" Miley gradually starts shaking her head, and then wraps her arms around Brandi's waist, crying into her neck.

"Okay, okay," Brandi is shocked at first but she starts to smile when she realizes what's happening and wraps her own arms around Miley's neck, rubbing her head softly.

**-xoxo-**

A few minutes later, Tish was fully clothed and lying down again on top of the naked man, and Brandi and Miley were outside on the front porch, talking.

"I'm really sorry Brandi, I should have never said those mean things about you," Miley says, leaving out the part about being hypocritical, she's not ready to spill her guts, _yet._

"I deserved it, I know that what I'm doing is bad, I just… we need the money, you know?" Miley nods her head.

"Yeah, I understand. Just, why didn't you get a job somewhere else? Like a fast food restaurant or something?" Brandi was about two years older than Miley; she knew there had to be some offers for her somewhere out there. Brandi takes a deep breath and turns toward her little sister, she takes hold of her hand and starts telling her about what led her to prostitution.

"I have this friend, he's name is Brad and we've been friends forever so of course I trusted him and there for a while I even had a little crush on him. So, when the whole thing with dad happened I went to him, and I told him all about it and he was really nice about the whole thing. Then I told him that I was going to have to find a job and he said that he knew just the thing, 'It's perfect,' he told me, said it wouldn't take up too much time and I'd earn loads, if I worked say ten nights a month that'd be enough for a house payment. So of course I said I'd do it, I mean I didn't even offer to ask him what it was, I just jumped right on the offer, so he said that he'd hook me up, that I'd have my first day of work the next day." Her eyes clouded with tears as she thought back to that night, she was so excited to get started, so excited to be helping her family.

"So, then what happened? After you found out what you were doing?" Miley asks, completely curious about the whole thing and ready to punch this Brad guy that led her sister to this. Brandi shrugs, and then continues.

"I didn't really know what I was doing until it started happening," she sighs, taking a deep breath, remembering back to _that_ night.

"Brad told me to meet him at his house and he'd take me to the place so that I wouldn't be alone the first night. So I drove over there and we got in his car and he drove me to this really nice old house. It's a gorgeous house, but I just kept wondering what was I going to do at a house? You know? Then we walked up there to the door and he was just so comforting through the whole thing, he held my hand and of course I was excited about that too because I liked him. He knocks on the door, three times, and the door cracked open. Just enough for the guy inside the house to pop his head out, he smiled at us and told us to come in, so we did. They started mumbling a bunch of stuff to each other but I wasn't really paying attention to that, I was noticing the house, it was extremely dark, no lights on throughout the entire thing and it was so creepy like one of those old scary movies that have the spider webs everywhere and ugly lanterns hanging down. Then Brad came back over and led me up to a room, I was still confused but I didn't say anything because I figured he knew what was going on and that he'd keep me safe." Her voice chokes up and Miley wraps her arm around her sister, embracing her in a hug. Brandi decides though that Miley needs to hear this and straightens herself up, getting right back into the story.

"It was bedroom, obviously, and he just walks us over to the bed and lays us down like it's no big deal, like we're just going to take a nap or something. So I started laughing a little bit and I finally asked 'What are we doing?' He took out three hundred dollar bills and stuck it into the back pocket of my jeans then he got on top of me, and it just… it happened. Then when it was all over he just got up, said 'I'll have you another meeting planned before too long' and left. I laid there for a little while, then I decided it was time to go and got up, put my clothes on and came home. At first I wanted to burn the money, just get rid of it because it seemed like dirty money but then I gave it to mom and she was just so happy to see it that I knew I had to keep it up. So I did and two days later I got a text from Brad telling me that he had someone for me, to meet him at the big house that night," Brandi lifts her hand to her face, wiping away a tear.

"I'm so sorry Brandi," Miley whispers, hugging her sister closer to her. Tears falling from her own eyes.

"Don't worry about it Miley, you've got your own problems, right?" Brandi shifts away from Miley, and sits cross legged on the porch, staring out to the street where cars would randomly pass by.

"Yeah," she sighs, leaning her head against her sister's shoulder.

**-xoxo-**

About an hour later Miley decides that she should head back to Nick's house, because she told him she'd be over there a long time ago.

"You'll come back soon won't you Miley?" Brandi asks, looking up at her sister.

"Yeah, probably," she smiles at Brandi before going up to her room real fast to grab some clothes then walking back down the street to Nick's house.

She walks inside the house when she gets there and straight up to Nick's room. She's smiling slightly, and even though it's only slightly that's okay because at least it's a little bit and not anything at all. She goes inside Nick's room and smiles a little bit more when she sees him sitting on his bed, reading a novel. He looks up from the book, sees Miley, and closes it, placing it beside him on the bed.

"Hey, where've you been?" he gets up from the bed and walks over to her, kissing her forehead.

"Me and Brandi talked a little before I came home, I'm sorry I didn't call, I was just caught up in talking to her, you know?" he nods his head and takes the clothes out of her hands, lying them down on his dresser. Miley walked over to his bed, picking up the book he was reading.

"Is this any good?" he walks over to the bed after he's done with the clothes and lies down, resting his head in her lap.

"It's okay," he looks at her upside down and she laughs at him, leaning forward and placing a kiss on his lips. She plans on pulling away but he wraps his arms around her neck, deepening the kiss. She pulls away a few minutes later laughing.

"I've never kissed anyone upside down before," he smiles at her as he gets up from his laying down position and sits down beside her, attacking her lips once again. She smiles into the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck and lying him down on the bed once again. She straddles his stomach, placing each hand on the sides of his head all while she continues to kiss him. He licks the bottom of her lip, and she quickly opens her mouth wider, allowing his tongue to slip in.

Nick's hand slides up the back of her shirt, rubbing lightly at her bare skin, she laughs lightly into his mouth and removes her shirt from her body, slinging it across the room. Then she removes his shirt, then off comes her pants. They kissed for a while, their hands roaming each other's body until Nick's fingers fumbled with the hook on her bra, slowly removing it from her body then kissing her chest, murmuring against her skin every so often.

As soon as her bra was thrown across the room, though, Miley started to think. She couldn't do this, I mean, it wasn't like she hadn't done it before, but she couldn't do this with him right now. It was just too much with everything on her shoulders. She hesitantly pushed him off of her and sits up in the bed, running a hand through her hair. Nick sits up behind her and wraps his arm around her waist, kissing her shoulder once.

"What is it babe?" she shakes her head quickly and sticks her head in between her knees, trying to force her emotions to not be so … everywhere. Nick's hand rubs small circles on her back, placing his head on top of her shoulder.

"Nick, I have to tell you something," her voice is shake-y and she isn't too sure about herself but she knows that eventually he's going to hear about this, and when that eventually comes he'll be ten times as mad as he would be if she just told him right now.

"Okay, fill me in," he picks his head up off her shoulder and Miley takes her head out from between her knees, she looks at him, tears already flooding her eyes.

"You're not going to like it, but promise me something Nick?" her lower lip trembles when she's done talking and she looks at him with the most scared look he's ever saw before.

"Yeah babe, anything," he takes her hand, trying to calm her down.

"Promise me that you won't break up with me, because Nick, I need you," Miley says, taking deep breaths.

"I'd never break up with Miley, never," he's really worried at this point, trying to figure out what in the world she would have to tell him that would be so awful that he would want to break up with her for. Miley can't help but think that he's promising now, but when he finally finds out… that promise might not mean a thing.

**a/n: longest chapter for this story I've written :).  
Basically, this if for Team M, because her birthday is today, so everyone needs to go wish her a happy birthday and all that wonderful stuff.**

**Follow me on twitter; twitter . com /Jblvrr :)**

**I'm not sure when I'll get to update again, cheer stuff pretty much ends on the 20****th**** of February. I can tell you that for sure. But home work and studying never really comes to an end… :/. So, right now all I can say is; it comes out when it comes out.  
Love you guys.**


	22. Chapter 22

**The Perfect Boyfriend**

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

_When she can't make it somewhere one night,_

_Then say 'it's okay' and plan to go another night._

"Just tell me Miles, trust me," he lifts his hand up to her cheek, caressing her baby soft skin with his calloused hands. Tears start to flood her eyes as she opens her mouth, ready to speak. But then quickly she shuts her mouth again and hides her face in the crook of his neck.

"Miley, baby, it's obvious that you want to get this out, just tell me, you'll feel so much better," he hopes the he doesn't sound like he's trying to coax her into telling him whatever this is, but he really is curious as to what is bothering her so much.

"I don't want to do it anymore Nick, I never wanted to do it," he feels the tears splash against his skin and he rubs her back soothingly, closing his eyes momentarily so that he doesn't go all emotion berserk like he did a few days before.

"What don't you want to do baby?" she lifts her head from his neck, looks up into his eyes. More tears spring to her eyes and she shakes her head vigorously, replacing her face back to where it was only moments before. He sighs lightly and rests his head on her shoulder, continuing to rub her back.

"I want to tell you Nick, I want to let you know," she sobs quietly.

"Then why won't you tell me Miles? What's holding you back?" he asks quietly, whispering against her hair.

"I promised I wouldn't tell anyone." He brings his hand from her back to her head, stroking her hair lightly.

"You can tell me anything Miley, but if you really don't think you should tell me then it's okay. You can tell me some other time," Miley squeezes her eyes shut _just tell him_ she thinks, but she knows it's not that easy. She's not ready for the fight that's going to come along with the secret breaking and she's not ready for Peter's reaction when he figures out that she's let the private matter slip.

"It's horrible, and I'm sorry Nick, just remember that, okay? I'm sorry that I ever agreed to it, I wasn't thinking about the consequences, I wasn't thinking about you. Just remember that I'm sorry, that's all I ask," she finally lifts her head from his neck, determined to not hide again. Nick, is completely terrified now, her words have to struck him as a warning; something REALLY isn't right.

"Okay Miles, I'll remember," he pulls her body against his, lying them back down on the bed. Miley still doesn't feel very comfortable knowing that she just about caused an unneeded fight but she's knows that eventually everything is going to come out and she's going to have to deal with the volcano that comes along with it. And she also knows that she's told him enough right now to get her through the next few days, just knowing that she's told him just a smidgen of what's going on has made her feel a tad bit better.

She snuggles her body with his and he kisses the top of her head. Miley slowly falls asleep, while Nick stays wide awake for another two hours. Just staring at the dark ceiling and trying to blank everything from his mind and just think about Miley in his arms. But he can't. Because he cares about her, and he cares about their relationship and he just wishes that'd she go ahead and let him in.

**-xoxo-**

Miley wakes up earlier than Nick does that morning. She grips onto the blanket that covers her as she remembers the night's events. But she decides not to dwell on the past for the entire day. She gets up from the bed quietly so that she doesn't wake up Nick, and puts on a t-shirt with a pair of his basketball shorts. Then she walks downstairs to the kitchen, pulling the milk out of the refrigerator and the cereal out of the cabinet. She pours herself the amount of cereal she thinks she can eat and gets a spoon from the silverware drawer.

Around five minutes later and after she's taken about two bites Joe comes running down the stairs, a bright smile on his face.

"Why are you so happy this morning?" she asks him when he sits down beside her at the table.

"Just got done watching the morning episode of Barney," he sighs dreamily and then quickly snaps out of it, looking over at Miley. She laughs at him and shakes her head slightly, then goes back to eating her cereal. He gets up from his sitting position and fixes himself a bowl of the cereal, then returns to his spot beside Miley.

"This stuff is so good," Joe says, staring down at the cinnamon swirl cereal.

"I agree, it's my favorite," Miley says, taking another bite of the sugar-y breakfast food.

"You know what?" Joe asks, looking over at Miley. She grins at him.

"No I don't, why don't you tell me?" she laughs slightly as he gets this panicky look on his face.

"The Wiggles come on in five minutes and I'm about to miss it. I'm sorry Miley, I really like sitting around talking to you, but I can't miss an episode of The Wiggles!" he gets up from his chair quickly and takes off to his room, running at full speed. Miley laughs at his figure running down the hallway and shakes her head, knowing that the child in Joe will _never_ grow up.

**-xoxo-**

About thirty minutes later Nick rolls out of the bed, and walks down the stairs searching for Miley. He spots her, sitting at the kitchen table with an empty bowl in front of her. He walks behind her and wraps his arms around her waist, tenderly kissing her jaw line. She giggles when she feels him embrace her and gets up from the chair, turning around in his arms.

"Good morning," she says, leaning down and kissing his lips quickly.

"Morning," Miley wraps her arms around his neck and smiles at him.

"How'd you sleep?" he shrugs, remembering back to his late night of … thinking.

"I slept okay," he leans toward her face, resting his forehead against hers.

"Hey, do you want to go somewhere tonight?" he asks, looking in her eyes. She bites down on her lip and looks away toward the ground.

"I-uh-I can't," she stutters, still avoiding looking in his eyes. Nick nods his head, pulling his forehead away from hers.

"It's okay Miles, we'll just go out tomorrow night is that okay?" he asks, taking his hand away from her back and placing it on her chin, tilting her head back up.

"Yeah, I'd like that," she says, taking a deep breath and finally looking in his eyes. He smiles at her and pecks her lips, letting his lips linger there for a few seconds. She giggles at the feel and lightly brushes her lips against his.

**A/n: **Okay, I had a bit of trouble with this chapter because nothing really happens in it. And it's really short, sorry. Sorry for it's suckiness.  
Once again, I'm not sure when I will be updating. But I most definitely will before March 3 ;).  
twitter . com /JBlvrr  
love you all so much :).


	23. Chapter 23

**The Perfect Boyfriend**

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing.

_When you can tell she's not comfortable in a situation,_

_Get her out of the room as quickly as possible._

Miley, once again, walks into the bar. She thinks about Nick's offer, going somewhere tonight with him and wishes so much that she would be able to be with him instead of here. But she shakes that off, because she has to be here, this is her _job_.

"Miley, guess what?" Mandy jumps right at Miley whenever she walks into the dressing room, placing her hands on her shoulders. Miley looks at her with wide eyes and moves her hands off her shoulders, walking with her to where her "clothes" are hanging.

"What?" she asks, looking over to Mandy who's trailing quickly behind her.

"I found you a job," as soon as Miley hears those words she becomes ten times more interested than she was before. She quickly whips her body around and looks at Mandy. She gets really close to her.

"Where at?" Mandy smiles, happy that she's able to help her.

"My dad owns this little restaurant and he's willing to let you be a waitress if you would like because he's in desperate need and he always likes to help people out," Miley can't help but start jumping up and down. When quits jumping she wraps her arms around Mandy.

"Thank you so much, I'll never be able to repay you but thank you so much," Miley squeals, happy to know that she's going to be able to get out of here soon. Mandy pulls back and looks at Miley seriously.

"But Miley, you have to know that the job with my dad doesn't pay nearly as much as this job does and you'll have to work every day." Miley nods.

"Of course, that's fine. Just so long as I'm making a decent amount, and I'm getting out of here I don't care," Miley takes a deep breath, a bright smile on her face. This is the first time she's really got excited about something in a while.

"He wants you to start working this Monday if you can," Mandy informs her.

"I can, I'll tell Peter that I'm going to be quitting tonight, after we… strip," it feels weird to say it, even though she knows that's what she does.

"Okay, I'm glad you're getting out of here Miley, you don't deserve to have to go through this anymore than you already have," Miley thinks about something and then looks at Mandy.

"Why don't you just work for your dad too? You could get out of here," Mandy looks down at her feet, biting down on her lip slightly.

"I-I don't know, this all I've ever really done, I don't think I could do anything else," Miley smiles at Mandy and forces her head back up.

"You should, you could work with me, I don't want to lose you as a friend and that way we'd get to see each other all the time," Mandy smiles, looking down at Miley. She quickly wraps her arms around her neck, pulling her into another hug.

"Okay," she says, "I'll talk to my dad about it,"

**-xoxo-**

Miley walks down the stairs into the back stage, grabbing the towel beside her. Like always, she wraps the towel around her body and heads back to the dressing room. When she gets there she quickly changes into her jeans and t-shirt that she had on before and pulls her hair back into a tight ponytail.

She stands there in the dressing room with a bunch of naked girls putting their clothes on, she takes deep breaths. Not sure if she's quite ready to face Peter with this news yet. But then she realizes that she has to, because that's the only way she's going to be able to get out of here.

She looks over at Mandy, who's waiting for her to make the move out of the dressing room. Mandy gives her an encouraging look and Miley smiles back, grabbing her purse from the floor and walking out, making a beeline to Peter's office.

Peter is sitting at his desk, looking down at the papers in front of them, observing them thoroughly. He doesn't notice Miley when she comes into the office, she stands there for a few seconds, waiting for him to look up, but he never does so she quickly clears her throat, making him look up at her. He smiles grimly and gets up from his chair.

"Well hello there Miley, how may I help you?" he motions to the chair that she's sit in so many times before. She takes the seat and looks up at Peter, a look of fear evident in her eyes.

"Um, I need to talk you… about something," her voice is shake-y and she tries to stay calm but she can't help but think of the pain that's going to come along with the news that she's going to tell him.

"What is it?" he looks down at her, ready for her to get to the point.

"I want to quit," she says, making her voice as firm as she can. He looks at her with a bright smile on his face, chuckling slightly.

"You can't do that Miley," her smile drops and she becomes overcome with worry, why couldn't she quit? If she wanted to quit, she could quit.

"Why not?" she asks. Peter walks over to his file cabinet and swiftly pulls out a folder. She can plainly see her name written across the tab. He opens the folder, taking out the paper that rests inside it. Peter slaps the paper down on the desk.

"You signed a contract Miley, you have to stay," Miley becomes confused, when did her ever sign a paper? … and then she remembers.

He had handed her the papers with a pen in her hand and she just glanced at them, not really giving it a second thought. She signed the papers, not even knowing what they said. She signed that paper the same day that she promised she would never tell anyone about the job.

"So, you remember now?" he smirks, snapping her out of her glazed over expression.

"I didn't know what that paper said, I didn't have time to think about what was going on," Peter cuts her off, getting closer to her face.

"Either way Miley, you signed the paper and you have to stay here for at least five years whether you like it or not," Peter says. _5 years_. Miley gulps, and as loud as it was she was sure that you could've heard it no matter where you were standing in the room.

"I-I-I" Miley stutters, and like a strike of lightening Peter strikes her across the face.

"Get it out already!" he yells, towering over top of her body.

"Never mind," she mumbles, knowing that there's nothing she can do now. She signed that paper and she stuck here, for _five years_.

"Get out of here," he says with a mean tone, returning back to his desk and shoving her contract paper back in her personal folder.

"Oh, and by the way, your hair looks better," he smirks, placing the folder back into the filing cabinet.

Miley gets up from the chair quickly, grabbing her purse and fleeing from the room before the tears can escape her eyes. She runs back to the dressing room to find Mandy still there. Mandy has a smile on her face, waiting to hear Miley's good news. But as soon as she sees Miley's tears her face drops and she goes over to her friend, wrapping her in a hug.

"What's wrong?" she asks, rubbing her hand up and down Miley's hair.

"I can't- Mandy, I can't work for your dad," Miley looks up at Mandy and Mandy gives her a confused look.

"Why not Miley? Didn't you tell Peter that you quit?" she asks. Miley nods and then pulls away from their embrace.

"I signed a contract, I'm stuck here for five years," Mandy's eyes widen.

"Oh, no Miley," Miley bites down on her lip, more tears gushing from her eyes.

"We'll get you out of here, one way or the other, I promise," Mandy says. Miley can't be sure that she can come through with her promise but for now she has to believe that she will, because right now she needs to have just the tiniest bit of hope.

** -xoxo-**

Miley doesn't go straight to Nick's house, she wants to but she really doesn't want to cry in front of him again. She wants to spend one night with him without any tears. At least one night.

So she drives around for a good while, trying to get all the crying out of her system. Then, when she finally thinks that she's all cried out, she starts heading toward his house, driving slowly just in case her tears reappear, they don't and she makes it to his house. She parks her car and takes her purse with her as she walks up the house.

Nick is right there when she arrives and he swings the door open before she can even touch the doorknob. He wraps his arms around her and stuffs his head in the crook of her neck.

"Oh, my gosh Miley, I was so worried, where have you been?" he asks, his voice mumbled because of her hair.

"I- just-I took a little drive," she manages to get out. He pulls his head away from her neck.

"Just a drive?" he asks, looking at her questioningly, there's no way that as long as she was gone all she was doing was driving around.

"Well, I had to go somewhere too," she shrugs, pushing past him and walking into the living room. Her eyes widen when she sees Nick's entire family sitting there, looking up at her with smiles. Denise gets up from the couch and gives her a hug.

"Nick had us all worried, and you weren't answering your phone, we just had to stay up and make sure you were alright," she watches as Denise's eyes fly toward her cheek. Miley tries to move her face away but it's too late, she's already saw. Denise carefully touches the red mark.

"Miley, what happened?" she asked, completely concerned. But Miley didn't want her to be, she didn't want her to care about the mark on her cheek. Explaining that mark would only mean having to let the truth come out, and we all know that she couldn't do that. Not yet, anyways.

"Nothing, it's nothing," Miley mutters, pulling away from Denise and walking closer to Nick. Nick notices that she's uncomfortable and he places his hand in hers, he's already gone through with seeing the marks on her face and just like the "big secret" he's not going to force her into telling him.

Miley looks around at all the worried looks, she can tell that the majority of the family is staring directly at her cheek. She hides her face in Nick's chest and he wraps his arms around her.

"Come on, let's go up to my room," he whispers in her ear, placing his hand on the small of her back and directing her toward his room while she keeps her head down, tears starting to gather in her eyes. _So much for one night without any tears_, she thinks.

**A/n:** Okay, there wasn't that much niley but quite a bit went on in this chapter. Snow days are the best, that's why I'm able to update this so quickly. Once again, for the third time, I'm not sure when I'll be updating again. But, like I said last time, I definitely will before March3rd.  
twitter . com /JBlvrr  
Oh, and great news; we're SUPER close to 300 reviews!


	24. Chapter 24

**The Perfect Boyfriend**

**Chapter Twenty-Four**

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

**Dedicated to: MeantToBeNiley (I had to take out the period) ** //She sent me the most wonderfulest message in the world, right after I posted the last chapter. It really made my day, I'm not even kidding. It was just amazing. I really think she deserves this chapter to belong all to her :).

**--**

You know when you're having a really bad time and you think that there's no way that anything else could happen because everything bad has already happened? Well, sometimes you get proven _wrong_, sometimes, something else can happen. And sometimes, not only does one other bad thing occur.

**-xoxo-**

Miley's hair was no longer falling down her back in beautiful curls, her hair was straight from the night before and piled dangerously on top of her head. Her clothes weren't in their normal shape; she didn't even bother to coordinate her clothes this morning. Her eyes, that were once so bright and shining and become completely dull and now put off a gray looking color.

And the one thing that Nick noticed the most about her; her smile is completely gone. That smile that always made her really stand out in a crowd, or make people that were walking by take a second glance at her, was gone. She didn't even make an attempt to try and fake it like she'd been doing here these last few months.

"Miles?" Nick's voice seems to boom through his oh so silent bedroom. He's been sitting on his bed watching Miley curse herself in the mirror for ten minutes straight.

"Yeah?" she says, not bothering to turn around. He sighs, getting up from the bed and walking over to her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her into him. Her body doesn't lose tension and he thinks about letting her go but he doesn't, because of the wonderful feeling of her in his arms.

"We're still on for tonight, right?" Nick asks, placing his chin in the crook of her neck. She looks at him in the mirror with a confused look.

"What do you mean?" he looks down momentarily but then looks back up at the reflection of her changed eyes.

"Yesterday you said you couldn't hang out that night but we could tonight," he explains. She averts her gaze and gently pushes him away as she walks away from the mirror and to his window. She pushes the curtains away and looks outside.

"I don't think I'm up to it Nick," she says, propping her legs up on the windowsill and grasping her knees with her hands. He admires as the sun hits her face and makes her skin glow and look less pale than what it really is.

"Why not?" he asks, walking over to her placing his hand on her knee and looking up at her face. She refused to look at him and kept her eyes looking out the window.

"I don't deserve to go out with you Nick," she admits, closing her eyes slowly.

"Yes, you do, you're my girlfriend, you're the love of my life Miles, why wouldn't you deserve to go out with me?" he removes his hand from her knee and places it behind her neck, caressing her skin with his thumb.

"I've been a bad girlfriend and I don't deserve you, or anything you want to give me," she says, keeping her voice emotionless. His face shows that he's confused.

"What are you talking about Miley? You've been a great girlfriend," he says, continuing to caress her neck as she continues to avoid his gaze. She slowly opens her eyes and looks back outside; her eyes focus in on the park a couple blocks down. It's a little fuzzy but she manages to get a good look at the teenage girl on the swings as a boy pushes her from behind.

"I've done bad things Nick, and I wish that I could take them back, but I can't and I'm sorry," her voice slowly becomes a whisper as she lets her eyes fall again, causing her vision to lose its focus on the couple in the park.

"What kind of bad things baby? Tell me, okay, I'm sure there not that bad and you're just over reacting," she bites down on her lip. She wishes that she could tell him that she was overreacting and that it's really not that big of a deal. But, we all know that it _is_ a big deal and she's _far_ from overreacting.

"You're going to hate me," her voice stays low, almost to a point where he can't hear her. But he manages to catch her words.

"I could never hate you, I love you," he brings his lips to her forehead and presses them onto her skin for a few seconds, and then he pulls away and continues to stare directly at her broken face.

"You don't understand Nick," she says, placing her head on her knees with her eyes remaining closed.

"Then make me understand," he begs, getting down on his knees so that he's eye level with her.

"I'm afraid," Nick strains to hear those two little words but once he does, he instantly wraps his arms around her fragile body. He rocks her slightly and whispers into her ear.

"There's nothing to be afraid of baby, I'm here, forever and always, no matter what," she shakes her head, pulling her head up from her knees and opening her eyes, staring at him with cold eyes.

"Don't make that promise Nick because you're not going to want to keep it," she informs him, and he looks at her with disbelief.

"Miles, nothing in the world could make me break that promise, _nothing_, no matter how big or how small the matter is," she lowers her eyes, muttering something to herself that Nick can't hear.

"Just tell me, please," Nick says, keeping his hands wrapped around her body as best as he can.

"I have a job," she finally says, keeping her eyes focused on the carpet of his bedroom.

"I know that, what's the big deal about having a job?" he asks, bending down so that he can see her eyes.

"My job, Nick, it's not a very good job," his eyebrows fuse together to show that's he's utterly confused.

"What do you mean by 'not a very good job'?" Miley tries to look away from his eyes again but this time he doesn't allow her to. He places his hand on her cheek and gently pushes her face toward his.

"I'm a bad person Nicky," her frown becomes even more distinct as she lets those words slip from her mouth.

"You're not a bad person; you're one of the best people I've ever met," he says. Miley bites the inside of her jaw, he doesn't understand, he's looking at her as if she's the world and she's been going behind his back doing one of the most awful things she could do.

"I'm a stripper," she blurts out, raising her hand up to her mouth after she realizes she's let the _big secret_ come out. Nick's face drops instantly and his arms slowly unravel from around her body. He stands up from the ground and walks a few steps away from her, running a hand through his hair.

"No, no, no Miley no," he whispers, looking at her with pleading eyes. "Please tell me you're lying," he says, his voice coming back to normal.

"I'm sorry Nick," she whispers, her lower lip puffing out the slightest bit.

"God, Miley!" his voice, this time, really does boom throughout the room and Miley jumps slightly when the sound of his yelling reaches her ears.

"I'm so sorry Nick, I didn't want to-" Nick cuts her off, throwing her a deadly glare.

"Just tell me one thing," his voice sounds like venom. Miley's never saw him this mad before, this upset and that causes her to be just as upset, she didn't want to be the one to have to cause him all this hurt.

"Okay," she says, looking up at him and waiting for him to ask her.

"How many guys did you sleep with?" he spits, then turns around with a sharp turn, walking toward his door. **(Props to TeamM on that line)**

"None, Nick none! I would never," she yells, getting up from the windowsill and walking toward him. She doesn't want him to leave knowing that he's mad at her, she couldn't stand that.

"I find that hard to believe, being the stripper you are and such!" he turns back around. Miley reaches out gradually, her hand shaking wildly as it moves closer to his arm. But she never makes contact with his arm because he notices her inching closer and moves away from her, pulling his arm away from her hand.

"I don't want your filthy hands anywhere near me," he grits his teeth together. Tears spring to her eyes and she quickly backs away, back to the windowsill. She knows she deserves this and so much more and she knew this was coming she just can't figure out why it hurts so much. This is her fault.

Nick turns around, heading back toward the door once again and grasps his hand around the door knob. At that time a sob rips from Miley's throat and she falls to the ground, keeping her arms tightly wound around her face. Nick's eyes close and he slowly comes to his senses, he takes a deep breath reviewing in his head the last few minutes. He was awful to her. He knew that she was feeling bad about the whole thing and he just made her feel worse.

He turns around so that his back is facing the door and he stares at Miley's sobbing frame on the ground. His heart breaks. He could've soothed her instead of screaming but instead he didn't think before acting and he's crushed her, caused her more pain than he would ever want. His feet walk quietly across the carpeted floor and he stands above her, looking down at her. A tear trickles from his eye and falls from his face, landing delicately on her arm.

She notices the wet drop on her arm and swiftly removes her arms away from the front of her face so that she can see. Her face scrunches up in pain when she sees him looking so sad above her. She rolls over on her side, curling her body into a ball.

Nick bends down, then with ease he flops down on his butt. He places his hand on her waist and rolls her back toward him. His eyes turn apologetic but Miley doesn't look up at them, afraid of what she'll see. _He's probably going to break up with me_, she thinks.

"Miles," his voice cracks slightly and he closes his eyes for a few seconds, trying to regain his composure.

"I'm so-so-so sorry Nick," she wraps her fist into a tight ball, knowing that when he tells her he wants to end it she'll have to have some kind of grip on her body.

"No, Miles, I'm sorry," she finally looks up at him. He's regretting yelling at her, but he doesn't need to.

"No, Nick, you have every right, I'm horrible, I should have told you sooner and-" Nick waves his hand at her, motioning for her to be quiet. He looks down at her with sad eyes.

"I overreacted Miles, I knew that you were already upset about the whole thing and I just caused you to be even more upset and for that I'm sorry," he says.

"You don't need to be sorry Nick, I'm serious, I deserved it," Nick just shakes his head, letting her go ahead and think that. Because now, he needed some answers.

"Why'd you start doing it?" he asks.

"I needed a job and no one else would accept me at such a young age. So I went to the club and I talked to the boss and he got me a job as a bar tender. Then after a week or so he decided that I was ready for something more and he… made me into a stripper," Miley keeps her head hung low as she tells the story. She really is ashamed of the whole thing.

"Why didn't you come to me Miley? I could've helped you out, we have money, we could've helped," he says, placing his finger under her chin and tilting her head up so that he can look into her eyes once again.

"I didn't want you to think I was using you or anything, and I'd feel guilty if I was just taking your money," Miley cries.

"No, baby, no, I would never think that you were using me. We've been together for a long time now Miley and I love you and you love me, I would never think that. And you never have to feel guilty for anything I _give_ you. Okay?" his eyebrow lifts up as he leans his body toward hers.

"Okay," she whispers.

"Now, you're going to quit this job okay? And if you want I can help you find another one or you can just not work at all and I'll help your family as much as you need," Miley lets him finish his talk about how he's going to help her and then she looks at him, eye to eye.

"I tried to quit Nick, I tried to quit last night," she explains.

"What do you mean you tried?" he asks, looking at her with a confused look.

"I signed a contract and I can't get out of it for another five years," Miley sobs, and Nick pulls her into his chest.

"There's got to be some sort of way out of it, we'll figure it out, okay?" Miley nods her head and then pulls back from his hold. A question that's been bugging Nick throughout the whole conversation finally comes to the tip of his tongue and he lets it slip out, afraid of the answer.

"Are you getting all these marks," he sweetly touches her cheek which is slightly bruised, "from 'work'?" Miley bites her lip as more tears start to well in her eyes.

"He wasn't abusive at first," Miley says, choking up on her words. Nick grows angry and his face becomes red.

"We're going to have a little talk with …" he realizes that he doesn't even know the man's name and he gives Miley a questioning look.

"His name's Peter but you're not going to do anything Nick, I could get into big trouble, he told me not to tell anyone about my job," Miley starts to freak out just a smidgen and Nick rests his hand on her back, giving her a comforting look.

"I can't just let him get away with this Miles, he hurt you… he could hurt you again," Nick says.

"I'll be fine. If you go down there and start talking to him about this I'll get in trouble and he _will_ hurt me Nick, just keep quiet," she says and he looks at her, he wants to disagree and go down to this club and beat the crap out of the guy.

"Okay, but we're getting you out of there one way or the other," he says. Miley nods, a tiny smile on her face and she snuggles into his chest, glad that everything got worked out and that he finally knew.

**A/n:** :) what'd ya think? He finally knows! Did he react like you thought he would?  
**Special Message to TeamM:** I LIED!!!! HHAHAHAHA! I wanted to tell you, I really did, but I couldn't just tell you what happened! That'd just ruin the surprise! But, hey, you thought it was time and obviously I did too. Great minds think alike.  
I'm posting like SUPER EARLY! But, I got in the writing mood and I was having a snow day; enough said.  
www(.)twitter(.)com/JBlvrr  
Once again; I'll be back before March 3rd. OH! And thanks so much on 300+ reviews! Congratulations to: NileyxMoexLOVEx for being the 300th reviewer.


	25. Chapter 25

**The Perfect Boyfriend**

**Chapter Twenty-Five**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing.

**HAPPY BIRTHDAY COLOURMYWORLD!**

**:)**

Soon after Miley had spilled the beans to her boyfriend she fell asleep in his bed, snuggled up to one of his many pillows. Nick sits on the side of his bed, his elbows propped up on his knees and his head placed firmly in his hands. The news had been dropped like a bomb onto his head and he didn't know what to think of it. Never in his sixteen years of life did he ever imagine the girl he fell in love with would become a stripper.

And not only did the Miley being a stripper part bug him, but the fact that she didn't tell him was annoying the crap out of him. Did she not trust him enough to let him know any sooner? Or was it just because she was that ashamed of the job? Or maybe, he thinks, it really is the deal that her boss told her not to tell anyone and she is just that scared of the dude.

A quick vision of Miley up on a counter with lights flashing all around her and a skimpy little outfit barely covering her body flashes through his mind, he sees her seductive looking face as she struts in front of a bunch of guys, throwing money at her. He shakes it off; _never_ did he want to think of her as that kind of person.

Nick takes a deep breath and runs his fingers through his hair, getting up from the bed to get ready for bed. He glances over at the clock to see that it's already eleven and takes his shirt swiftly from his body. Then he lets his pants fall to the floor and crawls into bed next to Miley, wrapping his arms around her instantly.

Miley snuggles into his body and Nick smiles down at her. Even though everything was bothering him just seconds before, he lets it flee from his mind and just focuses on the sleeping beauty in front of him. He leans down; kissing her forehead and a small smile rests on her lips. Then he lays his head down on his pillow, and slowly falls asleep.

**-xoxo-**

"Nicholas, Miley, it's time to wake up," Denise walks through the room, well aware that the two teens are still asleep even though it's past noon. A grunt comes from one of the sleeping teenagers but not one inch of either of their bodies move. Denise sighs and walks over to the bed, leaning over top of Nick.

"Nick, wake up," she says, shaking his body lightly with her hands. His hand flies up from Miley's body and over his head as he continues to sleep. Denise decides to give up on him and moves on to Miley. She smiles at the petite figure laying her son's bed, she's extremely happy that he's been able to find someone as wonderful as her. She places her hand on Miley's shoulder and carefully shakes her body.

"Miles, it's about time to get up," she says nicely. Slowly the teen turns her body in the bed, glancing up at Denise with her eyes squinted.

"Good morning," Denise whispers, smiling at the waking teen. Miley smiles back slightly, then rises up in the bed; causing Nick's other arm to fall from her body. Miley stretches her body as best as she can in the bed.

"What time is it?" she asks, looking up at Denise.

"It's around twelve-thirty," she replies, moving away from the bed. Miley gets out of the bed and walks over to the dresser, opening a drawer that contains some of her clothes.

"Why didn't you come wake me up earlier?" she asks, picking out a pair of sweats and t-shirt from the drawer.

"I just figured I would let you all sleep a little bit later than normal. And now that you're awake I'll leave you in peace to get ready and allow you to be the one to wake him up," Denise says, walking to the door.

"Oh gosh, that'll be a work out and a half," Miley jokes. Denise laughs lightly and closes the door to Nick's bedroom as she exits.

Miley takes the clothes that she's picked out and slips them onto her body. She pulls her hair up into a tighter ponytail and then glances over at her prince charming, who's sleeping peacefully. Slowly, she walks over to the side of the bed and gets back in with him, wrapping her arms around his body. He stirs slightly when he feels her arms on his body.

"Wake up," she whispers into his ear, nibbling lightly on the lobe of his ear. He groans slightly and starts to wake up, but not completely. "Nicholas, wake up," she whispers again, this time moving her lips down to his neck and kissing on his skin lightly.

"Let me sleep," he mumbles, turning his body away from hers. She frowns slightly but moves closer to him within seconds of him turning away. Her arms wind around his body once again and she starts kissing on his back, then his shoulders.

"Wake up," she repeats, kissing the skin right below where his hair cuts off. Nick realizes that she's not going to quit until he gets up and as badly as he wants to sleep, he wants to get up and see her lovely face. He closes his eyes tightly then slowly allows them to open. Then he rolls back over so that he can face her.

"Morning," she says, a little smile curling up at the corner of her lips. He smiles back at her, wrapping his own arms around her body.

"Good morning," he says back, kissing her forehead gently.

The evening went on and they continued to act like the great couple that they are. But talking about what happened the night before was inevitable.

Miley and Nick have returned to Nick's bedroom for the night, Miley on Nick's bed and Nick taking the shirt off his back in front of his dresser. Miley watches him cautiously, biting her lip lightly. Nick flings his shirt to the floor and turns around, walking toward the bed. His face looks nervous, and of course Miley notices.

"What's wrong?" she questions as he sits down beside her on the bed.

"We need to talk Miles," he says quickly, knowing that if he doesn't just get it out now, he'll never get it out and they'll never be able to solve the problem that's growing right in front of them.

"About what?" Miley asks nervously, she's read the books and watched the movies. In her mind she knows exactly what those words mean; the words 'we're over' are coming soon.

"Things have to change Miles; you can't go on doing what you're doing." He says.

"I told you last night Nick, I signed a contract, I can't get out of my job for another five years. It's useless to even think about it," she says, looking down at her fingers.

"Well, that's too bad because I don't care about some lousy contract, okay? I care about you and that's it. And I'm _not_ allowing you to go anywhere near that place _ever_ again." Nick states, looking at her with firm eyes. Miley's eyes glance up from her lap and up to Nick's eyes.

"I have to Nick," her voice is a whisper, barely audible.

"No! No! No, you do not!" his voice booms through the room as his face starts to grow red.

"What's the big deal Nick? Last night you acted like everything was fine!" Miley lets her voice grow louder.

"I never said everything was fine Miles, I said we were going to find a way to get you out of that nasty place and that's exactly what I'm doing. You're not going to go down there ever again so you can strut your body off in front of a bunch of perverted guys." He demands.

Miley knows she should listen to him and allow him to help her. But her family needs her money support and she signed that contract. As much as she wished she hadn't, she did and everyone knows that's there's no going back on a contract.

"I'm sorry Nick," her voice declines back to a whisper.

"Miley, I don't want to have to do this," Nick's voice declines as well as his face starts to turn back to normal color, "But I can't sit around, knowing that the love of my life, my girlfriend, is a stripper. I've already told you that I'll give you all the money you need, all you have to do is never go back to that club and everything will be fine. If you can't let me help you, then you might as well just go back to sleeping in your own bed and not being my girlfriend." Nick doesn't want to resort to threatening her, and hurts himself to hear those words slip through his lips, but he thinks this is the only way to get her to let him to help her.

"No, Nick, no!" her eyes fill with tears as she looks up at his pained face.

"I don't want to do this Miley. But, you've really gave me no choice. Choose the job, or choose me. Choose me Miles, and I promise you, I'll find you another job, a better job." He pleads with her, just riding on the hope that she'll go with her heart. Just hoping that she'll make the right decision and he won't regret doing this.

Miley's eyes travel down his body, until she's gazing at the floor, her eyes clouding with more tears. She's torn, she has no idea which was she should travel.

"Miles," Nick whispers, placing his finger under her chin and tilting her face so that she's looking at him, "Please, please, just stay. You know that never going back to that place is the right decision, so why is this such a hard decision for you? Don't I mean enough to you that you'll let that part of your life go? That part that you don't even wish to be in your life anymore," Nick's voice is shake-y as his own tears threaten to fall.

"I love you Nick," Miley says, tears flooding down her face. Nick smiles lightly; sure that she's made the right choice.

But Miley, she's still torn and as badly as she wants to leave her job, she knows that she has to support her family and keep with her commitments. So, she does what she _thinks_ is right.

She gets up from the bed, and walks out the door.

_Nick was pained to watch her petite body walk away, he cursed at himself for making another mistake.  
Meanwhile Miley was thinking about what she'd just done. She wanted to get away from that job, just last night she said she was going to. Now what was she doing?_

**A/n: Oh Gosh, please don't kill me! I promise this just needed to happen, it resolves lots of things in the future. :). Don't hate me.  
I'm begging you.  
Cheerleading is pretty much over, with exception of having to cheer the next two nights. So that means FREE TIME for me. Which means I'll have more time to write! Yayyy.  
So, yeah, this chapter is for ColourMyWorld, she asked if I would post on her birthday (March 3****rd****) and so, here I am. :) though I have a feeling that most of you didn't like this chapter… Don't worry. That's all I'm going to say. Oh, and I didn't put the two lines at the top of the chapter because I didn't want to 'ruin' the ending xD So, I put the two lines at the bottom, though they're not the same as they usually are.  
Review please, but remember not to get too mad! I love you guys.  
twitter: /JBlvrr**


	26. Chapter 26

**The Perfect Boyfriend  
Chapter Twenty-Six  
Disclaimer: **I own nothing.  
**Special thanks to Tara3295 for taking up for this story in their review, that means a lot. thanks so much.  
One thing before you read: Just remember that FF is for writer's who like to express themselves & have fun with their writing. I'm not writing this story because I want to publish it, that was never my intentions. This story is just something I thought up of and I decided I wanted to write it. That's it. Nothing business, it's just here for your pleasure. If you wish to send my constructive criticism, that's fine, but there's a difference between that & bashing my writing, which i don't appreciate at all.  
Thanks guys :)**

_Most people are stubborn, if you haven't figured that out already, you will very soon. When a girl makes a decision, she's not likely to just admit that she was wrong and tell everyone that. She'll continue on with her life and ignore everyone's pleas to just stop and fix the mess. But, you never know, with a stubborn person, if that mess will ever be resolved._

**-xoxo-**

Miley's tear stained face was carried with her as she ran across the road and down the sidewalk to her house. She thanked God silently when she twisted the door knob and realized that the door was unlocked. She didn't bother to stop and look at her wasted mother; she just raced past the living room and up the stairs to her bedroom. As soon as she was in her bedroom she flopped down on the bed and curled herself into a tiny ball, asking herself why she did what she just did.

"Miley! Open this door right now!" her sister's voice was demanding, and normally Miley wouldn't be one to not obey her sister. But right now, she didn't want to bother with being told that what she'd done was wrong and that she needed to fix her mistakes, she didn't even want to talk about what had happened in the past five minutes of her life. She just wanted to be alone, and that's exactly what she was going to do.

After Brandi knocked and yelled at the door for thirty straight minutes and Miley still refused to come to the door, she gave up and went back to her room, hoping that Miley would eventually come out and tell her what was wrong. Miley, on the other hand, was thinking of never coming out and just keeping herself locked up in her room for all eternity so that she wouldn't have to come face to face with the wrong choices that she'd made. Her body continued to shake with sobs and tears continued to flow freely from her dull eyes. She wrapped her arms around her stomach, hoping that, that one gesture toward her body would manage to keep her together and not let her fall apart. But in her heart, she already knew that without Nick, she was already losing herself.

Meanwhile, Nick still hasn't moved from his position in his bedroom. He stands there lamely, tears rolling down his cheeks. He knows that he shouldn't have made her choose, but he was for sure that she would choose him, because there love was just that strong. But, then, he starts to think, maybe their love wasn't strong enough in her heart, maybe he was riding on false hope that she loved him as much as he loved her.

He swiftly shakes his head, not allowing those thoughts to pass by his mind more than once. She loves him, he knows that more than anyone in the world and he knows that she's going to come back to him, any minute now, claiming that she'd made the wrong decision and that she would stop working at that club so that they could be together and she would allow him to find her a better job.

He waited there for over an hour, praying that she would come flying through those doors with tears in her eyes and a sorry look on her face. But, she never did. She never walked through those doors and she never ran into his arms, begging for forgiveness. Finally, his body moves from his standing position on the floor to his bed, flopping down on the comfortable object. He rubs his fingers along the lines of his forehead, trying to soothe the headache that came along with the crying and all the stress of finally realizing that Miley wasn't going to come back.

He silently curses himself, wishing he could go back in time and not force her to choose. He never wanted to make a girl choose between him and something else, he always promised himself that he wouldn't, because he knows how much it takes for a girl to choose between two different things. He shouldn't have done what he did, but he did and he will never be able to forgive himself.

"Nick," his mom's soft voice echoes through the room as she walks in quietly, looking at her sad son lying on his bed. He opens his eyes and looks up at his mom, his eyes red from all the rubbing. She looks at him sadly, a soft smile on her face. "I know that you probably don't want to talk to anyone right now, but I'm here now and I'm not going to leave until I tell you what I think," she says, walking over to his bed and sitting down beside his teenaged body.

"Think about what?" his voice cracks slightly as he speaks his first words since Miley left. More tears flood into his eyes at the thought of her name, but he quickly blinks them back, pulling himself up into a sitting position beside his number one idol, the woman that would always be there for him and never let him down on anything. So, now, of course, he was ready to listen to anything she had to say, hoping to God that it would cause the slightest amount of happiness to flood back through his veins.

"What I think about whatever is going on between you and Miley. I saw her leave earlier and she looked really upset, and I know, now, that you're just as upset. Obviously, something has happened and although I'm not sure what I think that you should get off your butt and go over there to make sure that she's okay. That's what you should do. If you think that's not what you should do then you can continue to sit up here in your bedroom and ignore her, just like she's ignoring you. But, please, Nicholas, listen to your heart and not your head," she says, not bothering to stick around and listen to what he has to say. She gets up from the bed after giving him a stern look, then leaves the room peacefully, hoping that her words would cause him to do something.

Nick watches his mom leave, her words floating through his mind aimlessly, trying to think of something to do. He finally got up from his bed and walked over to his dresser, putting on a pair of sweats and a clean t-shirt that wasn't soaked with tears. Then he took a deep breath and walked out of his room, descending the stairs and ignoring the content smile on his mom's face as she walked him walk past her, toward the door. He walks outside; taking a deep breath of the salty air then walks to the sidewalk, moving his face side to side to make sure that's nothing coming. When he knows that there are no cars passing by he quickly walks across the road, to the sidewalk opposite of the one that sits outside his house.

The closer he walks toward Miley's house, the more he starts to think that this whole idea was just a big mistake. He's not welcome in her heart anymore, or so he thinks, because he made her choose. And he knew better, that's the number one thing a boy should not do to any girl. His walking pace slowly descends, until he's almost at a complete stop. But, he's already made it to Miley's house and there's no turning back now, but he doesn't have to go through with the entire plan.

Instead of walking to the front door, which is what most visitors would do, he walks to the side of the house, looking up at the pretty white ladder that reaches up to Miley's balcony. He slowly climbs the ladder, trying his best not to make any noise or fall from the high height. He makes it to the top of the ladder and swings his leg over the side of the balcony, placing his foot down on the wooded floor as quietly as he possibly can, then he swings his other leg over and smiles lightly at his success.

He turns his body around immediately, looking inside the glass door into Miley's room. He thanks God silently when he notices that she's facing away from the door, well, she's lying down with her back to the door. He gets close to the door, looking in as much as he can. His slight smile turns back into a frown as soon as he sees her body shaking, curled up into a tight ball on her bed. He's caused all this unneeded pain to her. All that he wishes now is that he could take that pain away, even if it meant the pain would be inflicted on him. He could handle that, knowing that she wasn't hurting in the slightest bit.

His hand slowly rises from the side of his body, tempted to tap against the door and catch her attention. But, he knows that he can't do that; not yet anyways. She's more than likely furious at him and he doesn't want her to get even more mad because he showed up at her house an hour after everything bad went down. His hand slowly falls back to the side of his body, not even coming close to touching the glass. His eyes come to a close and tears start to seep out from under his eyelids. He wants to run into the room and hug her tight, letting her know that everything will be okay, no matter what happens. But he can't. How could he let something like this happen to them? Their relationship was so perfect and now, it's falling apart, not caring who it hurts.

Nick stands there for a good thirty minutes, staring at her crying figure before he decides that it's time to head back to the house, and let her cry in peace, even though Miley never even noticed that he was standing there, watching her relieve her pain. His hand runs through his hair in a frustrated manner before he crosses the street, going back to the other sidewalk and up to his house. He enters into the home-y space and ignores his mom, once again, who is smiling brightly at him, wanting to know what happened. He doesn't feel like telling her anything, nor does he feel like talking about how big of a sissy he was for not even visiting the girl.

He walks on up to his room, his emotions obvious on his face. Never in his life has he felt so down about something, never in his life has he just wanted everything to come to an end so that he wouldn't have to worry or feel anything at all. But he wouldn't stoop to the level of suicide, he could never lower himself that low, especially with all the problems that have yet to been resolved.

Right before his butt hits the cushion of his bed; his lap top is in his vision, calling his name. He walks over to it, unplugging it from its cord and carrying it back over to his bed. He flips the object open and instantly pops open the internet icon when his screen is completely warmed up and brightly lit in his eyes. His fingers skim across the black keys as he types furiously into the search engine. At his request, several links pop up and he starts clicking randomly, reading information that would hopefully help him sort everything out.

**A/n: It was really boring… I'm aware, and it's a really bad filler but its very muchly needed :).****  
One question: Who's excited about Jemi officially being togetherr??? I know I am.**  
**Umm, cheerleading's over! Yayyy. But I've still been busy, which is weird, but whatever. But hopefully I'll be able to write more now.****  
I know that Niley's still "split" or whatever, but I promise it's gonna get better real fast.  
mkay, I think I'm done. Review! Please, it makes my life so much better :D  
twitter . com/JBlvrr**


	27. Chapter 27

**The Perfect Boyfriend  
Chapter Twenty-Seven  
Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

**HAPPY BIRTHDAY HADIY101! :)  
this chapter's for you.**

_When everything feels like it's fallen apart,_

_Reassure her that it's not._

That night Nick stayed on his lap top for hours, taking notes in a dark blue notebook that he uses for school. Right before he finally decided to call it a night, he had collected over three pages of notes, front and back. He was so protective of those notes that he took that he stuck the notebook under his pillow and kept his hand on the paper filled book the entire night, waking up every so many hours to make sure it was still there.

Miley on the other hand, didn't sleep that night. She stayed awake the entire night, sitting out on her balcony, looking over at Nick's house. The light was on to his bedroom for most of the night and that made her wonder what he was doing, but she couldn't see what was going on in his room from where she was sitting. When the light went out in his room at around three in the morning, Miley tried to close her eyes, testing just how sleep she was. She wasn't sleepy enough to fall asleep, so she stayed up until seven that morning, staring over at Nick's window.

**-xoxo-**

That morning when Nick woke up, he immediately grabbed the notebook out from under his pillow and placed it securely under his arm. He walked over to his window, looking out and across the road, at the house that he "visited" yesterday. He smiles slightly when he sees Miley sitting with her knees curled underneath her as she sits on the balcony outside her room, her eyes closed and her head tilting slightly as she sleeps.

He jumps out of his gaze when he hears a knock on his door; he swiftly turns around, coming face to face with his mother, who has a very stern look on her face. He gulps nervously and she starts walking closer to him.

"I told you yesterday Nicholas to go see how she was doing and make sure she was alright. I did not tell you to sit outside her bedroom window and look in at her, did I? You need to get your butt over there right now," she demands, pointing toward the window that he was just looking out.

"I need to, I know that," he takes a deep breath and closes his eyes for a few seconds. "I'll go over there right now." He says, looking at her with determined eyes. He has everything he's ever needed now and whether she likes it or not, he's going to fix everything. Denise looks at him with a bright smile.

"That's my Nick," she says, walking up to him and embracing him in a tight hug.

Denise left right after she pulled away from the hug, leaving Nick to his room alone once again. He walked over to the window once again; glancing over at Miley's curled up figure on the balcony. He took the notebook out from under his arm and flipped through the pages, going over the information once again. Then, he put on a pair of old converse and exited the house again, just like he did yesterday, but this time he was well prepared and he didn't let go of the navy blue notebook the entire time he was walking.

This time, when Nick reached the Stewart's house, he didn't chicken out and walk to the side of their house. He went with the regular visitor approach and knocked quickly on the door. The door swung open and Brandi ushered Nick in.

"Do you know what's wrong with Miley?" she asks, "She won't come out of her room or talk to me and Nick, I'm just so worried," Brandi says, talking quickly. She looks at Nick with worried eyes and it saddens him to know that he's not only caused Miley pain, but he's caused her sister pain too.

"I'm sorry Brandi, it's all my fault. We had a little argument. But, I'm here to fix everything," Nick explains, walking with Brandi toward the stairs.

"What do you mean it's all your fault? An argument? Nick what happened?" Brandi questions.

"Brandi, I can't explain right now, I need to fix everything as soon as I possibly can. I promise I'll tell you everything later," he says, running up the stairs and heading directly to Miley's bedroom door. It doesn't surprise him when he finds the door locked. But, that's no problem for him.

He walks further down the hallway, stopping at her mom's bedroom door. He stands on his tip toes slightly, placing his hand on the top of the door. He swipes his hand from the left to the right of the door, grinning widely when the silver key falls onto the carpeted floor beneath him. He bends down, picking the key up and walking quickly back to Miley's bedroom. He sticks the key into the keyhole and twists it, the door flying open as it becomes unlocked. He walks over to the open balcony doorway and steps outside, looking down at the sleeping beauty in front of him. He bends down once again, sitting down beside her.

"Miley, wake up," he whispers, placing the notebook down between them. He watches as Miley stirs slightly but doesn't fully wake up. He moves closer to her, placing his lips right next to her ear, and wrapping his hand around her arm. He takes in a deep breath of the scent of her vanilla scented shampoo, then softly whispers into her ear, knowing that it will tickle her and she's bound to wake up, "Miles wake up," a small smile forms on Miley's lips, as her eyes slowly flicker open. She gasps slightly when she sees who's in front of her.

"Nick?" she whispers, pulling her hand up from her side and placing her fingertips on the delicate skin of his face. She looks directly into his eyes, not sure that she's really awake. Nick's mad at her right now, he would never just show up in her mind, when she finally realizes that he's really there tears collect in her eyes, "Why are you here?" she asks, looking away from him.

"I'm here to fix everything," he says, still holding onto her body, his lips still insanely close to her ear. He knows that he probably shouldn't be holding her, or touching her, but he has a connection to her, a connection that no one could break. And he wasn't going to let her go, especially not in the way of choosing.

"I'm not quitting Nick, I can't," she says, keeping her head hung low. Nick chuckles, keeping himself close to her, but letting go of her arm so that he could grab his notebook.

"You can Miley, I know how, you just have to let me help you," he says, placing the notebook in her lap. She looks at it with a confused look and starts going through the first few pages, the pages that Nick took chicken scratch looking notes on. She reads over the information quickly, nodding her head a few times. Then she shuts the book and looks up at Nick.

"I still can't quit, I have to support the family Nick," she tries to explain. He shakes his head.

"I'll get you another job, I promise you Miley, you'll be able to support your family," Nick begs, wanting her to take him up on this offer, he needs her to help him finish out his plan. She takes a deep breath and places the notebook back in his hands.

"I already have a job offer Nick," she says, looking up at Nick as she twiddles her fingers together, an old nervous habit. He smiles brightly.

"Then what's the problem?" he asks, completely lost. If she already had another job lined up, and she had the information that he had gave her, she should be able to continue on. She could quit her current job and take the new one. No big deal, right?

"I'll do it Nick, but I don't want you to get involved, understand?" she says, starting to get nervous as she thinks of facing Peter again with her 'quitting words'.

"Too late Miles, I am involved and I'm not going to let you go down to that club with that evil monster of a boss you have so that he can beat you senseless, we're going to go down to your 'work' together and we're going to figure everything out, and then everything will be perfect," he says, looking at her intently. Miley ran a hand through her hair, a frustrated look on her face.

"Whatever," she mumbles, knowing that he won't let the subject go until she gives in and plus, she thinks, she will be safer if someone is there with her through the entire thing. A bright smile lights up on Nick's face and he wraps his arms around Miley's body, squeezing her as close to his body as he possibly can. Miley smiles along with him, but then looks up at him with a worried look, "Nick?" she asks, her voice slightly shaky.

"Yeah, Miles?" he replies, looking down at her worried face. Of course, seeing her worried, worries him.

"Does this mean that we're… we're alright?" she asks, biting down on her lower lip. A few tears start to cloud up in her eyes as she watches Nick's facial expressions, maybe it was too soon to be asking a question like that, maybe even though he's been acting like he's okay with everything he's really still super mad at her on the inside.

Slowly, the water in her eyes start to go away as Nick wraps his arms tighter around her body, "We were always okay baby, I'm so sorry, I should've never maybe you choose, that was wrong of me. But Miles, we have a love and it's strong than any love out there I can guarantee you that, and nothing, not even when I do stupid things or we have stupid arguments, is going to break us up, okay? Nothing can cause our love to fade away, we'll always be okay Miles, always," Nick assures her, rocking her back and forth in her arms. A slight smile lights up on Miley's face as her arms wrap around Nick's body.

"I love you so much Nick," she whispers into his shirt. Nick's head rests on top of hers and he tilts his head toward hers, kissing the top of her head tenderly with his lips. When he pulls away, he rests his head on top of Miley's head once again and they sit there for hours, happy to be back in one another's arms again. Even if it hadn't even been a whole day since they were together. A minute away from the other is like a millennium, and Nick was sure that he would never be apart from her again.

_Sometimes the stubbornness people in the world simply become unstubborn. In this case, becoming unstubborn was all for love, and nothing less._

**A/n: So, Randomly I was looking on the internet and I realized that Thursday, today, is Hadiy101's birthday! Go wish her happy birthday! She's amazing, she deserves it.  
Umm, Thanks so much for the reviews (382!, 18 away from 400!) and for the nominations in the NJK Awards, those things mean a lot to me. :)  
Who watched American Idol last night and saw the AMAZING performances?  
Twitter; . com /JBlvrr**


	28. Chapter 28

**The Perfect Boyfriend**

**Chapter Twenty-Eight**

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

Days continued to roll by, Nick and Miley spending every waking second together. They refused to ever let the other one leave their side, with the exception of showers. Miley didn't go to work, causing Peter to become furious with anger beyond relief. And he started to call Miley, every day, two times a day. Miley didn't ever bother to pick up the phone, though she shook in her boots every time she heard her ringtone blaring throughout a room.

"We've got to go down there and get this over with Miles, soon," Nick says, watching as Miley's phone shook around on her bed and sung out a song that Miley was currently in love with. Miley looks at the phone, her hands shaking slightly. Then she sighs in relief as the sound of the singer's voice faded and the buzzing stopped.

"I know," she says, still staring at the phone. Once she's for sure that the phone is safe and he isn't going to call it again she picks it up, erasing the missed call. Nick sits up in the bed, wrapping his arm around her waist and rubbing his hand up and down her side, trying his best to get her to calm down from the stress of all the crap that's been going on.

"When do you think we should?" he asks, not wanting to tell her when she needed to do it, but wanting to know when she thought was best. She lets go of her cell phone, allowing it to sink back into the comforter on her bed, then she leans back into Nick's embrace, looking up at him with confused eyes.

"I don't want to ever do it, I don't ever want to face that place again, but I think, for the sake of my sanity and yours, that we should do it within the next two days," she says, taking a deep breath, knowing that she's set herself up for something she's not quite sure she's ready for yet. These past few days, while spending all her time with Nick, the dreadful 'what if's' keep running through her mind. And those things are enough to stop anyone from doing what they need or want to do.

"That sounds like a good plan," Nick agrees, leaning down and kissing her temple. He knows that she's been worrying about this whole ordeal since it first started and he's trying his hardest to get her mind off of it. But, it's pretty much useless, anything he tries, because her mind knows it's coming and she has to face the situation, and therefore, she can't get it off of her mind, no matter what happens. "I think you need to get out of this house," Nick suddenly says, switching the subject rather abruptly.

"I don't want to go anywhere," Miley mumbles, snuggling into his chest so that she can't be convinced to leave the house.

"Why not? I think it'd be good for you," he comes back, pushing her gently away from his chest so that he can look down at her gentle blue eyes. They've definitely dulled in the past few months, but they're still those ocean blue eyes that he fell in love with.

"People might see me Nick, Peter might be out there!" she squeals, trying her hardest to hide her face back against his body, grumbling unkind words under her breath when he won't allow her to do that. He was there to help her get through all this, and he couldn't do that if she wanted to hide away from the problem.

"Com'n Miles, get up and get dressed," he says, pulling away from her embrace and getting up from the bed. He looks down at her scared face, looking up at him with large eyes. He tilts his head slightly to the left and smiles lightly. Quickly, he snaps his hands together, "Chop, chop," he says, walking over to her closet, deciding that if she wasn't going to get up and get ready, he'd help her.

Miley hasn't gone shopping in a quite a long time, so the closet was filled with clothes that she's had for years. Nick searches through the medium sized collection, pulling out a pair of her skinny jeans and a random tank top that he likes the color of. He throws the clothes at her and gives her a stern look. "Put them on, or I'll help you with that too," he says.

"Tempting," she growls, picking up the clothes with a glare planted on her face. She takes the two objects into her bathroom with her to get ready. She peels her clothes off, trembling slightly, every time her clothes come off of her body, it reminds her of what she's done. She shakes it off quickly and pulls the clothes that Nick picked out for her over her body. She took a quick glance at herself in the mirror, pulling her hair up as she walked back out into the bedroom. "Happy?" she asks, walking back over to the bed, where Nick is laying comfortably again.

"Very," he says, pulling on her waist so that she fell on top of him. She giggled lightly and smiled at him. He smiled right back, arching his neck toward her so that he could plant a simple, sweet kiss on her lips. "Are you ready to go now?" he asks.

"I guess," she sighs, laying her head down on his chest. He places his hands on her back and rubs her body. He places a kiss on her bare shoulder, smiling even wider when he hears her giggle from the connection.

"Okay, let's go," he says, helping her get up from off his body. She sighs dramatically and walks over to her door, grabbing her purse along the way. Nick gets up from the bed and wraps his arm around her, resting his hand on the small of her back. They walk out of her room, and down the stairs into the living room. Luckily, Miley's mom was nowhere to be found and the escaped from the house with ease.

"Where are we going?" Miley asks, as soon as the two of them are settled into Nick's car and he's started up the vehicle. He puts the car into reverse, slowly exiting Miley's driveway. Once he's completely out of the driveway he turns toward her momentarily, grabbing her hand and kissing it sweetly.

"I think it's about time you take another shopping trip," he says, looking back at the road as he drives one-handed. Miley continues to look right at him with a wide-eyed expression. She continues to stare at him like that until he finally realizes that she's looking at him, he turns his head for a few seconds, "What?" he asks.

"I can't go shopping Nick, I don't have any money," she says, looking at the road. Tears slightly flooded into her eyes, not too many that she couldn't control them though. She took a deep gulp and closed her eyes, the tears forced out of her vision's way.

"I have money Miles, and I know how much you like clothes, so you don't need any money," he says, looking back at the road. He squeezes her hand lightly and Miley looks down momentarily. Sure, she would love to go shopping, every girl loves that opportunity, but Miley's been through too much and she doesn't like the feeling of people pitying her, and right now, that's the vibe that Nick's giving her.

"I'm not going to spend your money," she says, her voice barely above a whisper, she looks up at him once again. "I refuse to let you pay for my stuff, stuff that I don't even need." She says, holding her face with a stern look. Nick takes a deep breath and pulls the car over to the side of the road. As soon as the car comes to a complete stop, he runs a hand through his curly hair. He looks at Miley, keeping a good grip on her hand. He leans toward her, looking deep into her eyes.

"I'm your boyfriend Miley, I love you, more than anything in this world, and I know you. I know you enough to know that you adore shopping more than any other hobby and you would choose shopping over doing anything else. I know that you haven't been able to go shopping in a long time, because of the money problems and everything that's been going on. I know that you would never take my money just because you want something, I could never think that you were using me, because I know that you aren't Miley. And you letting me do this one little thing for you would make me feel a heck of a lot better so please, set everything aside, stop thinking that this is my way of pitying you and let me buy you some clothes, please," he begs her, licking at his lip lightly.

Miley's face softens and she bites down on her lower lip, this is going against everything she's ever believed in. She always grew up, taught to not let people just buy you stuff for the heck of it. And definitely not to ask for things, because that made you sound greedy. But, here was Nick, begging her to let him buy her some measly clothes, because that would make him feel so much better. It doesn't seem like a big decision, and in all actuality, it's not. But, to Miley, it is. And for her to give into something, you know, being the stubborn person she is and everything, is a really, really hard thing for her to do.

"Fine," she says, giving into his words. He smiles brightly, leaning toward her and kissing her lips tenderly.

"Thank you," he says, turning around in his seat once again and pressing down on the gas, the car taking off with them. Minutes later they arrived at the mall and they both hopped out of the car, walking together in a comfortable silence to the entrance. Once they entered into the building Miley's eyes lit up. Nick looked at her happy face and knew that everything he was doing was the right thing.

Miley spotted her favorite store and instantly grabbed Nick's hand, racing toward the store with Nick right behind her. Once she reached it, she immediately went inside and started rummaging through new clothes, something that she hadn't saw in a really long time. Nick watched her as she flew through the clothes, picking up every article of clothing that caught her eye. Miley wasn't even thinking about who was buying the clothes anymore, or than Nick was pitying her with this shopping trip, she was just enjoying herself, and that's what Nick lived for.

**A/n: AHHHHH! Thank you all so much for nominating me and voting for me in the NJK Awards, you have NO IDEA how much it meant to me and how excited I was when I found out (by TeamM) that I won 2****nd**** place in Best Drama and 3****rd**** place in Best Story. Then to top it all off, my collab with TheHeartNeverLies442 called 45 Ways to Scream got 3****rd**** place in Best Tragedy. So thanks to all the people that voted for 45 ways too, that means a lot to me and to TheHeartNeverLies442 as well.  
So, I was really tired today because I just got back from my trip to Chicago late yesterday but once I found out I got awards I decided I HAD to get a new chapter published because you all just deserve it. So, there ya go :) I love you all so much.**


	29. Chapter 29

**The Perfect Boyfriend  
Chapter Twenty-Nine  
Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

Two more days rolled by, Miley couldn't help but think to herself that 24 hours in a day just wasn't long enough. She thought that she'd be ready to face the wrath of Peter in a couple days, but now, now that that day is here, she's not so sure anymore. What's she going to do if Peter hits her again and demands that she stays with her job? What if Nick and Peter get in a big fight? There's no way her little body could come between the two of them and control the fight from being postponed. She squeezes her eyes shut, blocking her reflection from the mirror that's been staring back at her for the past fifteen minutes.

"Miles? Are you ready yet?" Nick asks, knocking a couple times on his bathroom door. Miley had gone inside the small room a while ago to 'touch up' and she hadn't come out since. He was starting to worry that she wasn't ever going to come out and nothing would ever be resolved. He smiles in relief when the bathroom door cracks open, but when the door doesn't come completely open he becomes curious. "Miles?" he repeats, pushing the door ajar and staring at her scared face.

"I can't do it Nicky," she whimpers, looking at him long enough to admit to him that she was weak. Then she turned her head away, allowing a couple stray tears to escape from her eyes. He looks at her broken face for a bit longer, then he walks the couple steps toward her, wrapping his arms around her once he's close enough. He presses his lips close to her ear and speaks directly to her.

"You can do it Miles, you've gone through so much and you're still going strong. You're not weak, even though you think that you are. I wish that every day since your dad left I would've recorded you so that I could play it back to you now and show you just how tough you've been through all of this. But, I can't so you're just going to have to take my word on this, okay? You must believe that you are strong and you can do this." He says, knowing that bringing up her dad was a tricky thing to do, but knowing that he had to in order to show her just how long she'd been standing strong.

"What if this doesn't work Nick? What if it doesn't matter and I still have to stay there for five years? I can't handle that," she sniffs, looking up at him with tear-filled eyes. He leans down, kissing her nose tenderly. His eyes close for a few seconds.

"You just have to have faith Miley, you have to go down there to that club with me and show him that you know what you're talking about and that you won't stand to work another day in that building. You have to show him that you're not scared of him, even if you are. You've got to take control of this one okay Miley? Show him that he's not the boss of your body, you are," Nick encourages, running his hand up and down her back. Her tears slowly start to come to a halt as his words process through her mind.

She's not going to get out of this line of work if she doesn't quit somehow. She can't just stay in her or Nick's house, hiding out from everyone so that she doesn't have to go back to that nasty place. She has to take control of everything; she has to make sure that she's completely free from that place. And that's exactly what she's going to do.

Her head nods up and down multiple times, then she looks right into Nick's chocolate-y brown eyes and nods again, "You're right," she says, placing her hands around his neck, "I'm ready, I can do this," she breathes out, a slight smile coming out on her lips. Just the thought in her mind of finally getting away from that place was enough to make her happy. Nick smiles right back, leaning down and kissing her sweetly on her lips. She kisses back, and in a matter of a few minutes Miley's confidence has gone from rock bottom straight up the top.

Nick is the first to pull away from their hold but he keeps one arm around her, keeping his hand resting gently on the small of her back as he leads her through his house, out the door and to his vehicle that's parked slightly at an angle in the driveway up to his house. Nick lets go of her petite body and she walks over to the passenger side, slipping her body inside the cozy space. Nick does the same but on the driver's side and whenever he looks over at Miley and she throws him a bright, white smile he places his key into the ignition, revving up the car.

The drive to the club that Miley had ended up spending many of her free nights at was comfortably silent. Miley kept looking out the window, finally enjoying the ride to this place, all the other times she'd been going toward the building she'd be frustrated with herself but now, she was actually going to do the right thing and fix everything that should've never even happened in the first place. Nick kept stealing glances at the glowing girl beside him, although there was still pieces of her that would have to be fixed after this with her family, he knew that this was the major first step and her happiness was already increasing rapidly, even though they hadn't even faced Peter or informed him of everything that they do know.

When Nick's car pulled up in the parking lot of the club, of which Miley had gave him directions to, Nick turned off his car and turned toward Miley. She looked at him with a confused face, "Take a deep breath," he informed her, taking her hand and softly caressing it. She did as she was told, inhaling a large amount of air into her lungs then releasing it through her nose. Nick smiled at her brightly, proud that he had finally convinced her to do the right thing. "Okay," he says, reaching toward the handle of the driver's side car door, "Let's go."

Miley reaches for the handle on her side of the car door, and as soon as the door swings open, she slips her feet out of the car, closing the door behind her. She walks around to the front of the car, where Nick is waiting, and grabs his hand. She swings their hands back and forth as the walk closer to the club. The nerves in her body start to act up again but she quickly pushes them away, not letting them get the best of her. Whenever they got to the door, Nick took the chance to squeeze Miley's hand. He bent down, kissing her lips quickly and then they pulled the door open together.

After they walked past the door, Miley took the lead, considering she was the one that had been to this place multiple times while this was Nick's first time exploring the place. Nick glanced over to building as Miley guided him, thinking of just how rough the placed look even without a show going on. His body shivered as he imagined Miley walking around this place.

Miley stopped abruptly, standing in front of the door that was closed and had a name plate on the front of it that says 'Peter Cole'. "Take a deep breath," Nick leans down, whispering into her ear. She looks up at him momentarily and does just as she did while she was out in the car, in through her mouth and out through her nose. Then without anymore hesitation she lifts her free hand from her side and knocks loudly on the door so that he'll be able to hear the knock loud and clear.

Miley gulps loudly whenever the door swings open, she feels a slight squeeze at her hand and remembers that Nick's right there beside her. Thank God she agreed to let him be a part of this. Peter smiled grimly down at the petite girl standing in front of his office door, "Well hello Miley, and…" he looks up at Nick, "you," he sneers, opening his door wider and motioning for them to come in. Like always, Peter walks in behind his visitors and sits down at his desk, looking over at them.

"I'm here to quit," Miley says forcefully, looking at him with hard eyes. Peter chuckles, not even phased by her words.

"We've already been through this before Miley; you were stupid enough not to read through a contract without signing it and now you're stuck here. Which I would like to know why you've been missing work so much here lately. I'd hate to have to track you down and drag you down here to work," he says. Miley doesn't bother to interrupt him while he's talking, knowing that she has the upper hand in this conversation and that no matter how many words come out of his mouth, she's still going to be able to come back.

"I may have just signed that contract but I also remember you telling me that I was underage when I first started working here, would you mind explaining that to me?" she asks, looking up at him with cold eyes. Peter gulps nervously, shifting his gaze around on his desk. It took him a few minutes, but he quickly recovered.

"You were underage at that time to be a stripper but now that it's been a few months and you've gotten a tad bit older, you're eligible to be a legal stripper," he explains, trying to convince them that what he was saying was the truth, little did he know…

"That's funny because I've done some research on these past few days when I wasn't coming to work and I discovered that it's illegal for any club to have a stripper that is under the age of eighteen," Miley explains to him, letting him know that she's got it all figured out and that there is no way for him to get away from this.

"That maybe true," he begins, "But you've only been stripping for a few months so that wouldn't add up to much in the court's view, if that's what you're trying to get at," he says, wishing at all possible he could get away from this situation. But it was his fault, he'd allowed an underage girl to work at his club and now Miley as determined to make him pay.

"Actually, Peter, that would mean a lot in the court's view and if you're still not pleased with that tiny bit of information you'll be pleased to know that in the state of California it is illegal for any person under the age of twenty-one to have possession of alcohol. Meaning that when you had me behind the bar, serving drinks to random people you were committing a felony, that's only two crimes that you've committed within the past few months," Miley tells him, keeping her eyes focused on his whenever he had the courage to look up at her.

"But you're only one person," Miley doesn't allow him to continue with his wording this time, instead, she cuts him off, wanting him to know immediately that she knows something that she probably shouldn't. But nonetheless, she does.

"Yes, I am only one person but I know from a reliable source that you have multiple people in this club working for you that are underage," she says. It was true; she'd called Mandy a day ago and asked her about all the girls that worked at the club. According to her there were around six girls, excluding Miley that worked as a stripper and were under the age of eighteen.

Peter's tongue racks over his bottom lip as he tries to come up with something else, knowing that he needs to convince them of something so that he can continue with his business. But Peter thought just a second too long and Nick stood up from his chair, looking Peter dead in the eyes.

"You now know what we have figured out Peter," he snarls his name, thinking back to everything that Miley had told him, "And we're going to be nice enough to let you off the hook this time, but if and only if you let Miley go free of that contract and all the other underage girls are fired from the work of stripping or serving drinks. You know exactly what will happen if we take you to court, so if I were you, I'd take this very kind offer and run with it," Nick says, ready to finish his speech, "I'll be back in three days to make sure that everything's been taken care of," he finishes.

"Okay," Peter says, knowing that Nick was serious with the tone of his voice, "Okay, Miley's free, she doesn't have to work here anymore and I promise sir that I'll let all my underage workers go just please, don't turn me into the police," he begs. Nick nods slightly and helps Miley get up from her chair.

"I'll see you in three days," Nick says, right before he and Miley exit the club. Miley instantly feels a giant wave of relief, a huge weight pushed off of her shoulders. She's never felt so free before in her life.

**A/n: Okay, so there it is :) what we've all been waiting for xD. SHES FREE! Haha, isn't it great?  
So, when I posted that last chapter I knew that I had won some NJK awards but what I didn't know until later on was that I've been inducted into the hall of fame, which is AWESOME! If I do say so myself. But, anyways, review, review. I'll love you like no other person's ever loved you before if you do. :)**


	30. Chapter 30

**The Perfect Boyfriend**

**Chapter Thirty**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing.

_When she's positive she can't go,  
Reassure her there's no other place but up._

The day after Miley officially quit her job, she still feels that giant wash of relief. She still feels like everything's better now with just that one change. But, she knows that not everything is okay. There are still things going on at her own home that are ripping her apart inside. And she's decided that if she can face Peter and tell him that she's quitting and all that information that she told him, then she can manage to go back to her house and fix things there also. So, that's exactly what she was planning on doing.

"I'm going home Nick," Miley yells toward the bathroom, because Nick is in there getting ready. She watches with a smile as he runs out of the bathroom without a shirt on and his jeans unbutton. She laughs at his disheveled look and then walks over to him, wrapping her arms around him for a hug. He wraps his arms around her also, then pulls away moments later.

"Why?" he asks. Obviously, there's got to be a reason that Miley is going home to her messed up family, because she doesn't like to leave Nick's side, especially since their 'time apart'.

"I need to fix things; I can't just keep living my life here ignoring everything else that's going on at home. I need to solve the whole equation and make everything right again," she explains, placing her hands on his chest and looking up into his eyes. She wishes that she could just snap her fingers and poof, everything would be perfect. But, nothing's ever that easy.

"At least let me go with you," he says, looking back down at her with his infamous puppy dog eyes. She laughs quietly and stands up on her tip toes, placing a sweet kiss on his lips.

"Of course you can, I wouldn't want it any other way," she says, taking her hands away from his chest and placing them back around his waist, embracing him in yet another hug. Nick smiles widely and wraps his arms back around her neck, pulling her face into his chest. She breathes in the sweet smell of his Axe cologne that's been sprayed on after his shower. Miley pulls away after a few minutes and taps at his abs. "You need to go get ready," she says. He nods in agreement and turns back toward the bathroom. He turns around right before he enters into the room.

"I'll only be a few minutes," he informs her, then takes off back into the bathroom and starts throwing his clothes on and combing through his hair. Once he's completely ready and considers himself to look halfway decent he walks back into his bedroom, walking over to Miley who's now sitting contently on his bed, waiting for him to return. He walks up behind her, considering her back is facing him, and wraps his arms around her waist as he rests on his knees behind her. His chin relaxes in the crook of her neck and he quickly places a kiss on her neck. She giggles abundantly and tilts her head toward him, placing a kiss in return on the edge of his jaw.

"Are you ready now?" she asks, not moving from their position because she's much to content with the feeling of his arms wrapped around her body. Her head remains twisted around so that she can look into his eyes. He nods slightly, careful so he won't bump his face into hers. She grins widely, just waiting for him to jump up from the bed.

"Are you going to get up?" he asks with a chuckle, loosening his arms from around her petite frame ever so slightly. She smiles brightly, not moving a muscle. He laughs once again realizes that she's decided in her mind that she's not going to be the one to move out of this comfortable position first. He leaned forward, pecking his lips against her neck once more, and then he decided to become the first one to move. He unraveled his arms from around her perfectly sized waist and maneuvered his way back off of the bed.

Miley sighed lightly, in a way glad that he moved from his position and in another way, slightly upset. But she pushed the thought aside and jumped up from her sitting position also, walking over to the door, where Nick now stands. When she's standing right beside him, Nick grabs her hand, lacing their fingers together and kissing her lightly on the cheek. Then he opens the bedroom door with his free hand and they start walking into the hallway, and out of the house toward their destination.

It only takes ten minutes for them to walk to Miley's house, and once they're standing right outside the front door, Miley takes a deep breath, closing her eyes momentarily. She squeezes Nick's hand and Nick looks down at her relaxed face. He squeezes her hand back and she shakes her head slightly, grasping the door knob in her hand and turning it. She pulls just the slightest bit on the door and it swings open a little faster than she likes. Miley knows that there's really nothing to be worried, or scared, about. But, she doesn't necessarily like to take control, and that's what's bothering her.

"Mom? Brandi?" Miley asks as she walks inside the house, straight into the living room. The house is a wreck from what she can tell, but that doesn't even surprise her in the tiniest bit. She gradually let's go of Nick's hand, leaving him to shut the door, and starts walking around the house, searching for a person from her family. She stops walking when she hears a noise from upstairs, letting her know that someone is home.

"Brandi, is that you?" she yells, walking up the stairs and going right to Brandi's bedroom door. She pushes the door open and squeezes her eyebrows together when she sees that the room is empty. Of course, Miley knows exactly where Brandi is, but she can't help her right now, not until she knows exactly where she's at, preferably home.

"Mom?" she calls out again, walking toward the master bedroom. She hears another noise and this time, she knows exactly where it came from; the room that she's headed toward. Whenever she's standing in front of the slightly cracked door she has to take another deep breath. We all know that there's no telling what will lay behind that door. Miley just has to expect the worst.

And the worst, and most unexpected thing, is what she sees.

"No! No, you're not doing that, NO!" Miley screeches, rushing over to her mom who has a needle stuck into the bend of her arm, shooting herself up. "Take it out right now!" she demands, wanting to just yank the sharp object free of her arm, but knowing that could cause more harm than good. Everything gradually starts to sink into her brain, and the image of her mother doing drugs on the carpeted floor of her bedroom pushes tears into her dry eyes. But through her blurry vision she can see the look on her mom's face; she's completely out of it, not even realizing what's going on around her. But, deep inside her eyes, where Miley hasn't been able to look, is pain.

By this time, Nick's already rushed up the stairs from the sound of Miley's yelling and is starting to get teary-eyed from the image sitting in front of him also. Neither of the teens expected this to happen, sure they knew that Tish was bad off, but never in their wildest dreams did they think she would stoop to this level.

"Take it out!" Miley screeches once again, bending down so that she's eye level with her mom. Tish just looks back at her with a glazed over look, and Miley's tears begin to flow out more rapidly. Nick reaches into his pocket, pulling out his cell phone.

"I'm dialing 911," he informs Miley, she nods and he walks out of the room, pushing the ringing object up to his ear. He listening intently to the woman that answers the phone, then quickly tells her everything in one breath. The lady informs him that an ambulance is on the way and then he hangs up his phone, pushing it back down into his pocket. He takes a deep breath, running his hand through his hair in a stressful manner, then walks back into the master bedroom, having to bite down on his lip when he see's Miley hovering over her mom, begging her to just take the needle out.

It doesn't take too long for the ambulance to pull up to the Stewart's house and a couple paramedics to rush in. Nick directed them toward the bedroom and it all went by quickly from there.

The paramedics rushed over to Tish, pushing Miley away, even though she was begging with them to let her stay there, with her mom. When she finally realized they weren't going to let her stand there, she walked over to Nick. He embraced her in a hug, kissing her head every once in a while in an attempt to calm her down.

The needle was delicately taken from Tish's arm, and placed inside a plastic container that was stored inside the ambulance. Tish was placed inside the ambulance as well, completely knocked out now. When she was taken out of the room, there were only three people remaining in the room. Nick, Miley and a paramedic that's picking up the remaining objects that were left on the ground from Tish's drug use. The paramedic finishes picking up all the things, he starts heading downstairs, right after giving Miley a sympathetic smile.

"Let's go," Nick says, kissing Miley's head one last time. She pries herself away from his chest and places her hand in his, walking downstairs with him. They don't bother stopping in the messy living room or by the door to say anything, they just continue walking out of the house, watching as the ambulance pulls away from the house. Nick squeezes Miley's hand and she looks up at him, forcing a sad smile onto her face.

They start walking again, this time they go back to Nick's house. They don't go inside the house to tell Denise where they're going or to grab something else to wear, they just jump inside Nick's vehicle and start their drive to the hospital.

Miley doesn't bother to say a word, and neither does Nick. Miley stares absently out the passenger side window, tears streaming down her face every time she thinks back to the scene she just witnessed minutes ago. Nick keeps his eyes on the road, reaching his hand over every once in a while to squeeze Miley's hand.

They make it to the hospital, parking in a spot that's closest to the entrance of the building. But once the car has come to a complete stop, no one opens a door. They sit there, still staring out the windows. Finally, after the course of three minutes Nick shifts his gaze to Miley, taking a deep breath and placing his hand on her shoulder. "Are you ready?" he asks. Miley wipes the wet spots from under her eyes and turns toward Nick. She licks her lips quickly and heaves a sigh.

"I don't know if I can handle seeing her again like that Nick," she whispers, "I can't handle looking at her knowing that she's been shooting up drugs and not doing squat," she finishes, her voice raising just the slightest bit. Nick understands, knowing that if his mother was in this situation that he couldn't bare going near her, let alone looking at her. He leans over in the car, wrapping his arms around Miley's body. Her head falls into the crook of his neck, a few more tears slipping free from her eyes.

"It's gonna be okay Miley, I promise," Nick whispers directly into her ear. This causes a reaction that she can't even keep from controlling. She pulls away from his embrace and looks at him hard in the eyes.

"Why would you think that?" she asks.

"Because it's been rough these past few months, everything's been going downhill. What goes down must come back up Miles, we've hit rock bottom together and now, all there is to look forward to, is up."

**A/n: Sorry it's been so long. I've been struggling with my will to write. But, here's another chapter... in the flesh. I'm not sure when the next one will be up. Knowing me it could be another month. Thanks to everyone who's sticking with me. I know I take way too long and and all that stuff but I really do try. ...A lot.  
www . twitter . com/JBlvrr  
**


	31. Chapter 31

**The Perfect Boyfriend  
ChapterThirty-One  
Disclaimer: IownNothing.**

_When she's upset and going through a hard time…_

_Just hold her._****

It took Miley a few minutes but after Nick's encouraging words she finally found the courage to face the fact that her mother had restored to drugs and she needed to get her butt in the hospital and support her through the ordeal, even though she highly disagreed with everything that Tish was doing. They walked the halls together, hand in hand, supporting one another. This was hard, especially for Miley, but she was strong. Stronger than most people. Whenever the couple made it to Tish's room a doctor was just walking out of the room, Miley stopped him, looking up at him with a worried face.

"Is she okay?" Miley asks the doctor. He stops dead in his tracks, looking down at the teenage girl. His face most certainly doesn't contain anywhere near a smile, but a distinct frown rests comfortably on his older looking face. The doctor doesn't bother to say any to her right away; instead he motions her toward a pair of chairs that sit outside her mother's room. Miley takes the seat and immediately turns toward the doctor, who has sat down in the other seat that's empty.

"I'm going to say this in terms so that you can understand because I realize that 'doctor speak' can sometimes be very confusing," he smiles at Miley, trying to start the conversation out with a light mood, but that 'light mood' that he's wanting to create has no chance at existing and he realizes that when he notes that Miley's face not wants changes shape. So, he continues, "Tish Stewart, who I suppose is your mother?" he implies.

Miley nods her head, "Yeah, she is," she says. The doctor nods along with her, crossing his legs.

"Your mother was shooting up heroin when you found her in the bedroom. Heroin is a very dangerous drug and is illegal in the United States, meaning that the law will be getting involved as soon as your mother is well enough. As of right now, physically your mother is completely out of it, passed out in there on the bed, but we've flushed her system and we're feeding her liquids and before too long she should be back to functioning well. Um, what's your name?" he asks, finally.

"Miley Stewart," she spits back out, tears floating around in her eyes. By now she's used to the tears in her eyes though; tears are becoming a part of her everyday life. And she hates it.

"Miley," he says, "Before this accident did you notice that your mother was acting strangely at all? Did you suspect drug use?" he asks her.

"I just know that she's been drinking a lot and having men over. But I never thought that she would start doing drugs," Miley says truthfully. Obviously, she knew that her mother was in a bad condition, but did she ever once think it was this serious? No.

"Would anything have caused her to resort to heroin?" the doctor continues to question. This brings on a whole new batch of tears. The memories spread through Miley's mind like wild fire and nothing can stop them. She knows that she needs to let the doctor know, they can get her mom help, but the thoughts of what happened, knowing that that's exactly what caused her mom to go to drugs, tears her apart.

Nick's there though, as he always is. And the doctor's patient, the job requires that, a whole lot of it too. Nick bends down in front of Miley, who is hanging her head and crying silently.

"Miles, it's okay, everything's okay," he says, wrapping his arm around Miley's slightly shaking body. Then he turns toward the doctor, knowing already that Miley won't be able to calm down enough in at least ten minutes to tell him what's been happening at their house. "Tish caught her husband cheating on her in their house, and kicked him out. They've been tight on money and Tish has become depressed, which is what I'm guessing led to the drinking and drug use," Nick explains.

The doctor nods in understanding, he's saw plenty of cases like this one, maybe not one so serious, be he's definitely saw it before. He waits a few more minutes, allowing Miley to calm down a tiny bit, then he begins to talk again, "Your mother is in a serious condition Miley, and it's not your decision to make but I would highly recommend you try and talk your mom into checking herself into a rehab center, that, in my opinion, would be the best route you could take from this point. But the issue with that is, your mom more than likely isn't going to want to admit herself, and she probably isn't going to admit that she as a real problem. You need to help her realize that she needs help and that she does in fact have a problem." The doctor concludes his little speech and gives an encouraging look into Miley's eyes.

"I'll try my hardest," she promises, looking up at the doctor with a tear streaked face. "I will," she shakes her head. The doctor smiles at Miley one more time before getting up from his seat.

"I hope you will, and if you ever need anything Miley, we're here to help, at all times," he says, waving goodbye to them and walking off to tend to another patient of his. Nick pulls the seat that the doctor was just sitting in up in front of Miley's chair, he places her legs between his and grabs hold of her hands. He leans his body forward, his forehead resting softly against hers.

"We're all here for you Miley, everyone's here for you," he whispers, taking his forehead away from hers and kissing the place where his skin just lost contact with hers. He keeps his lips rested there for a few seconds before removing them and placing his forehead back. His eyes close slowly and he enjoys the feeling of her just sitting there in his arms. Though this is a stressful situation, and there's worry wrapped around each of their minds, these are the kind of moments that they've come to enjoy and take advantage of.

Fifteen minutes pass and they're still in their same position, but now comes the time when Miley shifts from her shape and stands up swiftly from the seat. Nick smiles slightly, getting up from his seat and pushing it back into its spot. After the seat has been replaced, Nick walks up to Miley, lacing their fingers together. Swiftly, he leans down pecking her cheek. Then they walk the two feet to Tish's room, entering without a second thought.

Once they've entered the room and the door has come to a close behind them Miley's eyes gape at the site of her mother. She looks so sickly lying on the bed, completely passed out. Her arms are starting to get rash-y and her eye lids are a purplish looking color. Needless to say, she looks like a drug addict. She doesn't look like the mother that Miley grew up with. But what bugs Miley the most is thinking about the past, ever since her father fled from the house and never came back.

She wasn't there. She wasn't trying to help her mom, and to try and keep her away from the alcohol; otherwise she may have been able to prevent the usage of heroin. Instead she was off stripping at a club, not only harming her boyfriend but allowing her mother to harm herself. All she would have had to of done is to stay home a few nights, convince her mom to stay away from all the negative things, maybe even took her out every once in a while to eat or something. She could have prevented this, or at least that's what she thinks.

Truth is, Tish Stewart was so far gone as soon as she saw her husband cheating on her that nothing or no one could have prevented her from going down the path that she went. Love hurts, and when you discover that your true love doesn't love you back, that hurts even worse. And once you feel that pain, your heart breaks, maybe not physically, but you feel that break, inside yourself. And everything eventually comes undone. And like Nick said earlier, once you've hit rock bottom you must start climbing back up, toward the top of the hill. And though it takes a lot more strength and will power to reach the top, it makes you feel a heck of a lot better.

Miley lets everything sink into her head, the skinniness of her mother's body, how bright the room really is, and the beeping noise that echoes throughout the room to let you know her pulse. A gulp, one single gulp is heard throughout the room with the beeping noise. Miley's scared and even that's an understatement. Nick's hand wraps tighter around Miley's and a slow nod comes from her head. She frees her hand from his and walks slowly over to the bed that her mother is lying on.

"God, Mom," she whispers, grabbing Tish's bony hand and pressing it against her cheek. "Why?" she continues, tears starting to roll down her red cheeks once again. It doesn't take too long for her to feel Nick's arms wrap around her body and she relaxes just the tiniest bit. "Why?" she asks, whimpering into Nick's chest.

They stay there, in that tiny white room with Tish lying completely passed out on the bed. The beeping noise continues to fill the room free of silence. And Nick continues to hold Miley, because honestly, that's the most you can do in this sort of situation.

**A/n: Honestly, I hate this chapter. It didn't turn out any way I wanted it to and it was short. I'm still having a really hard time with my writing and being able to write and stuff. I've been able to writing three paragraphs a night for a few nights now, and that's how this chapter came about. It sucks, I'm aware and I'm sorry about that. But, I'm really trying.  
I'm going to be gone, starting next Monday I will be gone to camp (which I don't wish to go to but I have to for my scholarship) and then once I get back we're supposed to go on vacation. So, it's obviously going to be a lot longer till I can update again. Because of the whole not wanting to write and then not able to if I want to for 2 weeks. So, yeah.  
www. Twitter . com /JBlvrr**


	32. Chapter 32

**The Perfect Boyfriend  
Chapter Thirty-Two  
Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

_When you both need a break,  
Convince her to just get away._

One day had passed since the scare from Tish. Miley refused to leave the hospital and her mother only woke up every once in a while when the doctors forced her to eat. Nick stayed right beside Miley, comforting her every time the situation became overwhelming again and she broke down. And Miley could hardly handle the situation; she was still having trouble comprehending the fact that her mother had been using drugs. That wasn't her mother, not the mother that raised her and drilled into her brain to 'just say no'. Where that mother that Miley had grew up knowing and receiving lectures from was, no one really knows. And even if that woman who was always the hero of two young girls came back, it was still going to take a long time for her to completely become herself once again. And Miley wasn't quite sure she was going to be able to sit there and watch her mom trying to fix herself back into the person she once was. Or would she be able to watch her continue her ways and just forget about the great woman she was before her husband did the dirty deed.

A hospital is a painful place to step foot in, especially when you have to drag yourself there to visit a person that means a lot to you. Brandi was having trouble even coming within parking lot distance of the building. She was eating herself up over the entire situation; she was the one that was at home most of the time, ignoring her mom's constant thrashing through the house, whether it be because she was drunk or because she had just brought another man into the house. She ignored it all, and now her mother was in the hospital.

"You've gotta do this," she was preaching to herself, forcing herself to do the right thing for the first time in a long time. She was forcing herself to drive to that hospital and see her fragile mother, no matter how much it was going to pain her to see Tish in that state. Her little black car slowly turned into the parking lot of the gigantic building, searching around the lot in no hurry to find an empty space. Once her eyes spotted an empty spot she pulled into it, shutting her car engine off.

A deep breath passed through her lungs and filled the weird silence filling her car. Her hands continued to rest on the steering wheel, this was the closest she had gotten to actually coming to the hospital and she refused to let herself back down now. She pulled her key from the ignition, pushing it down in the big tote looking thing she called a purse and shouldered it. Then she opened the door and stepped out from the car, locking the door on the way out. Closing the door her eyes shut, flashbacks of her mother's sickly looking eyes flashing into her mind. A shiver ran down her spine, causing her whole body to do a wave like movement.

"You can do this," her words had changed, instead of telling herself she had to do it, she told herself that she could. She could handle this and she would. After this visit, after seeing her mom and talking to Miley she knew that she would feel somewhat better about the whole situation. Even though your mom being a druggy isn't a thing you could be happy about, she knew that something about this would make her feel the slightest bit better.

She decides not to postpone the visit any longer and leaves her car behind, going straight to the swinging door entrance and entering into the sickly smelling building. Ever since she had to witness the death of her grandma when she was the age of six she couldn't stand the smell of a hospital, nor could she stand the sight of everything being so bright cause of the white colored walls. She never understood why the walls had to be that color, why not make the place just the slightest bit more cheerful and add some color? What harm could that do?

Her feet continued to move beneath her, stopping once at the front desk to ask which room her mother was resting in. From there she moved nonstop, taking the stairs instead of the elevator because she knew that if she stopped her continuous walk that something could stop her and she wouldn't make it up to the floor that her mom's room was on. She finally reached the floor and walked quickly down the hallway to her final destination. She peeked inside the window of the closed door and saw her sister sitting right beside the bed, her boyfriend resting right beside her with his arm wrapped around her waist.

Brandi adored their relationship and at times she found herself even jealous of the two. There was no doubt in her mind that they would last forever, that they were meant to be. Some people like to say that when you're sixteen there's no way that you are able to find your true love, but in Miley and Nick's case, Brandi strongly believes that that statement is wrong. And though she always thought of herself as the daughter that would marry first in their family, she was now starting to think differently. Miley had found her love and Brandi was yet to find anyone. She was slowly starting to think of herself as the one that would be last to marry, but strangely enough, that didn't bother her at all.

Brandi quickly broke out of her trance of watching the two love birds and knocked twice on the door before entering. Miley and Nick both turned in her direction, causing Nick's arm to be removed from Miley's body. Miley immediately stood up and rushed over to her sister, throwing her arms around her body.

"I'm so glad you came," Miley whispered, hugging her arms tighter around her sister's body. Brandi leaned into Miley's embrace and wrapped her own arms around her body. Just hearing those words from her little sister's mouth made everything a fourth of a bit better. Eventually Miley loosened her embrace and Brandi unraveled from her arms, stepping closer the hospital bed and getting a better look at her mother.

Tish was looking better than when Brandi last saw her at their home. Her fingers weren't nearly as skinny, though they were far from normal looking and her face looked much healthier. Brandi's face broke out into a small smile as she held onto her mother's hand, rubbing her thumb carefully across her skinny hand.

"She's doing a lot better," Miley announced from behind her sister, looking down at Tish also. A small smile was also resting on her soft lips, "The doctor came in and talked to her yesterday and talked to her about rehab, she's still hesitant about it but I think with a little push she'll be okay with going," she continued. Miley bit down on her lip carefully then walked over to her sister, placing her hand on her shoulder, "I think it would help if you were here to help me persuade her to go," Miley finishes, Brandi quits rubbing her mom's hand and looks up at Miley, her smile slightly going away.

"I don't know Miles," Brandi sighs, turning completely away from Tish, "I don't think I can handle that," she admits. She had a hard enough time just forcing herself to come here today, let along come again and tell her mom why she needs to admit herself to a drug rehab.

"Please Brands, I know it's really hard being here, but I don't think just me telling her she needs to go to rehab is going to be enough. She loves you, and she's still on her 'Miley's the reason our family fell apart' kick. She's not going to listen to anything I have to say, but she'll listen to you, I just know it," Miley begs, staring down at her sister with her infamous puppy dog eyes, sticking her bottom lip out into a pout Brandi immediately gives in.

"Okay, okay, when do I need to be here?" Brandi asks. Miley's smile brightens up to a whole new level.

"The doctor said he wanted to talk to her tomorrow one last time before he had her make her decision," Miley informs her, "I think he said he was going to come talk to her while she was having lunch so around 12 o' clock tomorrow," Miley finishes. Brandi smiles up at her sister.

"I'll be here," Brandi says, turning back toward Tish. She takes her hand once again, picking it up and kissing it lightly. Then she picks herself up from the chair she's sitting in and leans over her mother, kissing her forehead and then leaning down to her ear, whispering, "I'll see you tomorrow mama," she says. Then she pulls her eyes away from her mother and walks over to Miley, giving her a tight hug. "Bye guys," she says, walking toward the door and heading toward the exit of the hospital.

Her stay wasn't long, and it wasn't filled with any exciting events but it was enough to get her worked up, enough to cause tears to come to her eyes whenever she pulled out of the parking lot in her little black car. But they weren't necessarily sad tears, partly they were happy tears, proud of herself to know that she was going to be helping her mother out with her future. She was going to help her get right back up and on the right path.

Back in the hospital room Miley was now resting the seat that Brandi had just left open. "I'm glad she's going to help," Miley says, to no in particular. Nick, being the only other wake person in the room, walks up to her and wraps his arms around her, sitting down behind her. He leans down, kissing the top of her head and allowing his lips to rest there for a few minutes before pulling away.

"Me too," he says, pulling Miley out of her chair and into his lap. "Me too," he repeats, resting his head in the crook of her neck and kissing her skin tenderly. Miley giggles wildly when she feels his lips nipping lightly at the skin on her neck. She places her hands on his chest.

"Stop it," she says, a bright smile resting on her lips as she looks down at his perfectly designed face. He smiles right back at her then quickly gets comfortable in his seat, pulling her down with him.

"How about we go home for a night? I'm sure that your mom would enjoy a night here by herself," he says, looking up at her with begging eyes. Truth was, he was in desperate need of a good sleep and a good shower, and so was Miley. "Just one night and we'll come back here super early in the morning, I promise," he says, pleading in everywhere that's possible.

"How about you go home and I'll stay here with mom," she suggests. But that wouldn't work, Nick refused to leave her alone without any support and he knew that on the inside she really wanted to spend a night in a good comfy bed too. "I'm fine with that, I know you wanna go home and get some sleep," she says.

"I want you to come with me, I know that you want some good sleep just as much as I do and it will do you some good to get out of this hospital for a night. Your mom will be fine, she's under good hands here," he says, tilting his head to the side and giving her a small smile.

"I guess one night wouldn't hurt," she admits, starting to think that one night in Nick's bed couldn't hurt anything. Besides, her mother had all kinds of nurses and doctors looking out for her here. Nick's face breaks out into a bright smile and he leans up, kissing her lips quickly.

"Thank you Jesus," he smiles, helping Miley get up from the seat as he stands up from the chair. "I'll get your stuff together and you can spend some more time with your mom," he says, walking over to the small dresser placed in the room right under the television and starts piling her clothes into a small pink duffel bag.

"I won't be gone for long Mommy, I'm just going to Nick's house and then I'll be right back to look over you, promise," she says, leaning up and kissing her mom's forehead. "I love you," she says, tears forming in her eyes. She pats her mom's shoulder softly then turns away from her fragile looking body.

Nick is already standing at the door with her duffel bag in hand. She slowly walks over to him and takes his hand. She takes a deep breath and looks into the hospital room, her hand comes in contact with her lips and she blows a kiss straight at her mom, then she turns away from the room and Nick leads her out. The door shuts behind them and they walk down the hallway, straight out the exit and toward Nick's vehicle.

The ride home is, for the most part, completely silent, but that's not because they have nothing to say, or they feel awkward about anything. They're tired, anyone would be after spending multiple nights getting zero amounts of sleep in a hospital. Nick pulls up to his house, instantly getting out of the vehicle, dying to get inside so he can take a nice, warm shower then sleep in his comfortable bed. He walks around to Miley's door and helps her get out of the vehicle then takes her hand and walks in the house with her and up the stairs to his room.

"I'm going to take a shower," Nick announces, walking over to his dresser and picking out a pair of boxers to wear.

"I'll take one after you get out," Miley says, walking over to his bed.

"Okay, I'll try to hurry," he says, walking into the bathroom and shutting the door behind him. Miley loves the feeling of the mattress beneath her; she almost forgot what it felt like to sleep in a real bed. She lays herself down in the bed, pulling covers over her body and lets her head rest comfortably on the pillow beneath her. Before she could even think twice her eyes fell and she was fast asleep, forgetting everything about taking a shower.

Roughly ten minutes later Nick emerged from the bathroom, his hair soaking wet and curling wildly on his head with nothing on but his boxers. He took a quick peek into his bedroom before stepping in and smiled brightly when he saw Miley completely zonked out on the bed, her mouth hanging slightly open as she cuddled up to the blanket covering her. He shakes his head slightly and walks over to the bed, crawling in beside her.

He curls his body around hers, letting one arm drape over her waist. He snuggles his face deep inside her hair, taking a sniff of the smell of her shampoo. He quickly kisses the only part of her neck that's showing and then lets his head fall into a comfortable position, falling asleep in a matter of minutes.

**A/n: There it is. Next one will be up soon, hopefully.  
Andd, What do you think of Miley's new album? :)**


	33. Chapter 33

**The Perfect Boyfriend  
Chapter Thirty-Three  
Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

_When she worries that something's not going to turn our just right…  
Reassure her & comfort her. Just make her feel better._

There always comes a time in your life when you're going to have to make a decision, and you'll never go through your life just making one decision. You will make multiple choices and sometimes those decisions will he easy to make, flying past you just like everyday life but other times, you'll find that it's not so easy to make a decision. Sometimes it will take a lot of thinking before you can state exactly what you want to do, but these will pass by also, just like the easy decisions. And you'll discover that at times you've made the wrong decision but most of the time you've made the right decision. And those decisions will impact your life—Forever.

"Hey mom, we're back," Miley announces as she walks into the room, looking much better after a good night's rest. Although her mother wasn't awake she still felt the need to talk to her, besides, when her mother is asleep she doesn't have to listen to her harsh words and remarks. She can just talk to her mother in peace, like she used to before all the drama in her life occurred. "How'd you sleep last night?" Miley asks, grabbing her mother's hand and imagining in her head just what her mother would say, if she were herself.

"These old beds, I swear I never understood why they would put such an uncomfortable bed in a hospital. Don't they know that there are old people here that need a good back rest?" she would say. Miley laughed inwardly. Then she snapped out of it, realizing that imagination at this point wasn't doing anything. She took a deep breath and walked over to Nick who was standing at the doorway, watching her.

He smiles brightly at her, opening up his arm and allowing her to rest right there. She sighs and turns her body toward him, resting her head on his chest. He leans his head down, kissing her forehead. Then his hand wraps itself in her hair and he holds her close.

"Good morning," a nurse says, walking into the room and going straight toward the end of the hospital bed, she picks up the clip board and starts writing a few things down before walking to the side of the bed and checking her temperature, blood pressure, etc. then recording all the measures. When the nurse is done she hangs the clip board back onto the end of the bed and walks toward the door. "The doctor wants to speak to you and your mother today about arrangements after she's released from the hospital," she informs them. Miley nods her head, already knowing all this information but not wanting to be rude. "He'll be in around twelve," she announces, and then she leaves the room.

"Do you think Brandi will come?" Miley asks, looking up at Nick.

"Miles, she said she would be here you and I both know that she's not one to break a promise," he says, pulling her closer. Miley nods her head, she knows this, it's just the thought of her waking up this morning and remembering other plans she had or thinking that Miley could handle it on her own. Miley couldn't handle this on her own, heck; she couldn't even handle this with Nick's help. She needs her sister and it worries her to think that just one thought in Brandi's head could cause her to back out and not come today.

"Stop worrying about it babe, everything's going to be okay," he says, kissing her on the forehead once again, "What goes down must come back up," he encourages. That had unintentionally become their slogan, and hearing those words always released the hope back into Miley's mind.

**12:00**

Miley sits impatiently on the couch in the hospital room, her mom was awake but kept her eyes staring straight above her, at the white ceiling. Miley leg bounced quickly, and she kept her fingers close to her mouth so that she could chew on the dead skin. Brandi still hadn't arrived and the doctor was sure to enter the room at any time. _She's backed out_. Miley kept thinking about it, she was going to decide not to come and she was going to have to battle it out with her mom alone.

"Hello there Miss," the doctor said, entering into the room with a white lab coat on. This made Miley feel even more upset, her leg bounced quicker and no words left her lips to greet the man back, she just stared at him with a worried look on her face.

"She's a little nervous," Nick explains, watching as the doctor gives Miley a weird look.

"Well, why's that?" he asks, turning toward Nick, who seemed to be the only one who was going to talk to him while he was in the room, "There's nothing to worry about here, we're just going to be discussing future plans for the health of Tish," he reminded them. Miley's eyes widened and she removed her eyes from the doctor, chewing on her nails more rapidly.

"Her older sister is supposed to be coming to help with the decision that's made but she hasn't arrived yet," Nick continues. The doctor's face shows a bit of understanding.

"We can always hold off on the talk for a few minutes," he says, turning toward Miley who starts to calm down a bit hearing those words, "Maybe you should try calling her, the nurse out in the lobby would be happy to let you use the phone," he smiles. Miley jumps up from the couch and walks toward the door, tugging on Nick's arm. She was like a little kid, wishing their parent to come along with them, but he didn't mind. He probably would've followed her into the lobby anyways.

They walk out of the hospital room and down the hallway to the lobby, once they reach their Miley walks up to the desk and politely asks, "May I use your phone?" The lady behind the desk nods her head and pulls the phone up from her desk, placing it in front of Miley so that she could use it. She typed the numbers into the phone and bit on her lip anxiously as she listened to the phone ring multiple times.

"Hello?" a voice asked, Miley instantly recognized it as her sister's. She also noticed that she didn't sound the least bit busy or like she was in a hurry. Maybe she really had decided to just not come.

"Where are you at?" Miley asks frantically, starting to tap her foot. Obviously she couldn't handle being under any type of stress, even the stress that wasn't even that big of a deal because s he started getting all fidgety but she really couldn't handle it. And she didn't care if she looked like a crazy person in the middle of a hospital; these people didn't mean squat to her, what mattered was that her sister got here and her mom made the right decision.

"I'm sorry Miles," Brandi starts but Miley is quick to quit her off.

"Don't you dare tell me that you can't come Brandi! You told me you'd come and I can't do this without you! She'll never choose rehab if you just up and run away from this! Don't you dare let me down with some sorry lame of an excuse!" Miley half yells. Nick comes up behind her, sensing her tensed figure and softly rubs his finger across her shoulders, massaging them so that she relaxes just the tiniest bit.

"Miley! Let me finish, geez!" Brandi says, getting upset by the way her sister was asking. "As I was saying, I'm sorry that I'm late I had a … thing to come up and I had to be there and I'll be at the hospital in another five minutes," Brandi explains calmly. Miley's eyes close and a small smile brightens up her face.

"Thank God," she whispers, "I'll see you in a minute Brands," Miley says.

"Okay Miles, love you," Brandi says before the phone call disconnects. Miley places the phone back on the receiver and turns around toward Nick. He pulls one of his eyebrows up, keeping his hands placed on her shoulders as he massages her skin.

"She's coming," Miley smiles, jumping up and down slightly. Nick smiles along with her, noticing that all her jittery actions have completely disappeared and she looks a bit more confident than she did before. He stops rubbing her shoulders and places his arm around her waist. She flings her arm around his waist as well and they walk together back down the hallway to Tish's room, waiting only a few minutes before Brandi arrives.

"Hello people," Brandi says, announcing her arrival. Miley looks up from the couch and sees that her hair is a mess and she looks as if she's just left her pajamas on to come here. Brandi notices her looking at her and quickly adjusts her gaze as far away from Miley's as possible. "So, let's get yapping," Brandi says.

The doctor, who Miley, Nick and Tish had found out's name is Paul nods his head and opens up the file in his hands. "Your mother here, as you all know, has been on drugs and she overdosed from that, which is the reason she's here. It's our job to make sure that people that have the problem, such as your mother's, get the treatment that they need after they're released from the care of the hospital," Dr. Paul explains. "We cannot force anyone into a decision and seeing as your mother is over the age of eighteen she will be the one making the decision, we can only hope that she chooses the right one. The first option is rehab, obviously, and that is the option that we encourage the most. Rehab will help anyone in Tish's condition make it through an addiction like this and put her back on the right track, the other option is to go home, continue the bad ways, and more than likely die," he says. "I hate to put it out there so blunt but that's what happens, especially when we have people here like your mother who has overdosed, more than likely the same thing will happen again and the outcome may not be that great, I'm afraid," he finishes up, looking around the room to allow someone else to talk.

Miley looks toward Brandi, hoping that she'll be the first one to try and talk to their mom but Brandi keeps her head hung low, looking at her tattered converse. "Mom, what do you think?" Miley asks, getting up from the couch and walking to the side of the hospital bed. Tish looks at her with blank eyes and an angry face.

"What you think I freaking wanna do Miley? I'm not going to waste my lifetime in a stupid rehab when there's nothing wrong with me!" she yells, her eyes going from blank to burning with rage. It wasn't even that big of a question, Miley thinks. She sighs and looks toward the doctor, he motions for her to continue.

"But, Mom, you do have a problem, you overdosed on drugs, that's why you're here," Miley says. Tish shakes her head, not taking her eyes away from Miley.

"That's not my fault though, now is it? I could be on top of the freaking world right now if it weren't for you, you stupid mistake of a thing! I could have my husband with me and I wouldn't be in this situation that you call 'my problem'," Tish continues. Brandi looks up from her shoes and watches as Miley's eyes tear up, how in the world did her mother go from loving Miley to dissing her with every word? If anything, Brandi thought, her mother should be mad at her and telling her nasty things, she was the one that refused to come to the hospital for days. Tish opened her mouth to say a few more words but Brandi had decided that enough was enough and though she wished to just keep herself unnoticed and to the side, she refused to let Miley go through anymore of that.

"Stop it Mom! Miley's never done anything wrong to you! Do you understand how Miley came about? You had sex! That's what happens mom! Birds and the bees, remember? If you didn't want a second child you should've been protected or just quit doing it! It's not that hard to figure out, so stop blaming Miley for ruining your life! Your life isn't the only one that's been altered by dad leaving us! Everyone's life has! Miley's included! So just stop pitying yourself and think of other people every once in a while," Brandi said, her face growing red.

Tish stares at Brandi in astonishment, sure Brandi was always the more outspoken of her two daughters and never really was as close to her as Miley was but never in her life had she gone off on her like that before. It was definitely the most unexpected reaction anyone could've predicted. Miley looks up at Brandi with a small smile on her face, sure she was still a little upset about the words that had come from her mother's mouth, but hearing Brandi take up for her like that made her feel ninety percent better.

"She'll go to rehab," Brandi announces, speaking in the doctor's direction.

"I'm not going to no rehab place, Brandi," Tish said, looking at her daughter. Her face was stern but she was still shell shocked.

"Did you not hear me, mother? Stop pitying yourself and do something right for once since dad left. After all this time that he's been gone do something that's going to actually benefit this family instead of sitting on your lazy butt all day getting drunk," Brandi says. "I've been paying for the house here lately mom, and if you refuse to go to this rehab, I'll make sure that you have your own little rehab at home and I guarantee it won't be nearly as pleasant as the one this man's offering you," Brandi says, smiling lightly at her mother. "Sign the papers," she says sternly, suddenly feeling like she was the mother and her own mom was her child.

"Okay," Tish gives in. Brandi whips her head back to look at her mother, was she really giving in this easy? No more of a fight then what they'd just experienced? Dr. Paul walks to the side of the bed with some papers clipped onto a clipboard and hands them to Tish. She takes the clipboard and a pen that he offers her and signs the papers in all the spots that he points to. Brandi was amazed; it was official now, no going back. Her mother was actually going to do something good.

"Thank you Miss, I promise that this will be for the best," the doctor says, walking toward the door. He turns around with a few last words, "We'll have you on your way by in the morning," he says, continuing his walk out the door, shutting it behind him.

"I'm proud of you Mom," Brandi says, turning toward her mother. Tish looks at her with a confused face. "Thanks for doing the right thing," she says, tears collecting in her eyes. Tish nods her head, and then stares up at the ceiling. This would be for the best.

**A/n: Okay, so it wasn't about niley very much, but it was something. And I actually kind of liked it. With the whole Brandi telling her mom thing :). I hope you enjoy it just as much.  
**


	34. Chapter 34

**The Perfect Boyfriend  
Chapter Thirty-Four  
Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

_When it comes to the end of a rough day,  
Just keep reminding her that it's all going up._

The next day came a little faster than either daughter was anticipating, but they knew that this was going to help them to become the family that they were before… minus their father. But once the sunshine had completely risen in the blue sky and Miley, Brandi, Nick and Tish were all wide awake, a lady walked into the hospital room, one that they'd never saw before.

"Hello, my name is Lucille, I work at the rehab facility that your mother will be attending," she smiles brightly, looking like a former crack whore herself. Or maybe, she was just really happy. "We're ready to go anytime that you are Ms. Tish," she says, looking at the mother. Tish nods her head.

"I'm ready," she announces, not hesitating and not wanting to stay here any longer, afraid that she would change her mind and right now she wanted her kids to be proud of her. But that was just at this moment, this is what Miley liked to a call a 'Normal Moment' because her mom was thinking just like she did before. But those moments didn't seem to last long enough, and then Tish would be complaining about Miley and why she didn't think she needed any person to try and tell her she had a problem, when clearly she did not. But, clearly, she did. And you could tell just by looking at her.

"That's great, I'll have Dr. Paul come up and get your discharge papers all ready," she says, exiting back out of the room. The room suddenly turned quiet, just like it was before Lucille and came in the room. But it was okay; all of them enjoyed the silence while it was there, because silence didn't come to the hospital room very often.

Miley stuck her hand out her hand just a little bit, then wrapping her small fingers around Nick's when she feels his hand touch hers. She grips his hand, looking up at him with a small smile on her face. The first time she felt better about her new 'life change' was when she got out of working at the strip club and as soon as she knew her mother was safe in the hands of rehab, she would feel even better. She would be one step closer to piecing her family back together. With the help of Brandi and Nick, of course.

"I'm back," Lucille sing-songed, walking back into the room, but this time she had another person tagging along, Dr. Paul who had a few papers clipped onto a wooden clipboard. He swiftly took a pen out of his lab coat pocket and signed a couple things.

"It was a pleasure meeting you Tish, I'm gladdened inside to know that you will be in good hands with Lucille here and that you will be much happier, I assure you, afterwards," he smiles at Tish and she slightly smiles back. She wasn't used to the smiling part again. But, she was going to get used to it.

"Thanks," she said. Miley couldn't help but think what a relief it was to see her mother completely sober and acting like her real self again. Nick's hand released from Miley's and wrapped around her waist, placing his lips on her forehead for a few seconds. Miley breathed in deeply and then released the air. She turned in toward Nick, wrapping her own arms around his body and snuggling into his chest.

"Okay then, let's get this show on the road," Lucille said, smiling from ear to ear. IV's were taken from Tish's arm and she was finally able to get up out of the hospital bed. She changed into a decent pair of clothes and Lucille took her hand, assuring her that she was going to be her new best friend.

Tish and Lucille walked out first, still hand in hand. Brandi followed them and Nick and Miley took up the rear, their arms still wrapped around the others body. It was a line, a straight line. The one that your kindergarten teacher always begged you for, they were walking in complete unison down the hallway. This was the moment that everyone needed the most. No more alcoholic mother getting angry at her kids for no reason, no more drugs and unwanted men in their house. This was it.

It took three minutes for the group to reach the front of the hallway. Only three minutes. Now, it was the ultimate time to say goodbye and even though Miley and Brandi wanted this most for the mother, this was going to be the hardest part. Goodbye is always the part that everyone dreads and wishes they could skip. But, it has to happen; the moment of goodbye is inevitable.

Tish turns around, letting Lucille's hand fall from her own and looks at her daughters. It's become obvious to her in the past couple days that she's been very rude to Miley and she can't hold her gaze at her for very long. Instead, she looks toward Brandi. Brandi smiles at her mother, walking close to her and enveloping her into a tight embrace. "I'm going to miss you mommy," she whispers, grasping the cloth of her mother's t-shirt in her hands.

"I'm going to miss you too baby doll, but once I come back, I'll be a much better mommy," she says, stepping away from Brandi. Brandi nods, stepping away from her mother as well. The distance became farther from the two. Nick stepped away from Miley, leaving just the two of them there.

Miley hesitantly took a step forward, closing the space between them slowly. Tish bit down on her lip, taking a step toward Miley. Finally, the gap was no longer there and Miley wrapped her arms around her mother.

"I know I've been a really bad mother to you here lately Miley, and I'm sorry for all the hurtful words. I didn't mean any of it. I love you, you are my daughter and I did want you. And no matter what I always will. You weren't a mistake; you're one of the best things that has happened to me. And I'm going to miss you," Tish says. Tears cloud up in Miley's eyes.

"Thank you Mommy, for everything. Thanks for doing this, I know it's hard for you and stuff but I'm glad that you made the right decision. I'm glad you're making an effort. I love you," Miley cries, tightening her grip around her mom.

They hug. Like they used to what seems like forever ago. They're finally fixing everything. This is it.

"I'll see you all in no time," Tish says, pulling away from their embrace and walking to the door with Lucille. "I love you guys and this is only goodbye for a short period of time, don't forget that," Tish says, winking at her daughters. Then they walk out the door, Lucille guiding Tish to her car. Lucille had decided to provide the transportation herself since she wanted the goodbyes to be less hard. This was easiest, not having to drive Tish to her 'new home'. It was better.

It didn't take long, much less than those three minutes it took to walk to the door. More like thirty seconds. Thirty seconds and the two were in the car, the engine was turned on and the car had taken off. Thirty seconds and life was moving on, steps were being made. They may be baby steps, but they're steps and that's all that matters.

"Everything's going up," Nick whispers into Miley's ear, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind. Miley smiles, _everything is going up._

**A/n: Well, Tish is officially gone; and this chapter is pretty boring. I promise next chapter is gonna be better :) i've got the idea thought up, I've just got to get it out.  
Review, and all that good stuff. :)**


	35. Chapter 35

**The Perfect Boyfriend  
Chapter Thirty-Five  
Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

_No matter what,  
Hold her hand like it's nobody's business._

Hours after the event of sending Tish away to rehab, Miley, Nick and Brandi were hanging out at the Stewart's house. Brandi had bought everyone something to eat from McDonald's, but the food was devoured in a matter of minutes. Now, they find they don't know what to do with themselves. There's no woman to take care of, no men to force out of their home. It seemed like the home was finally developing into its original state.

But, then Brandi's cell phone rang. The tone was playing a song that Brandi knew was her 'daily calling'. The person she wished to speak to the least. But, she knew that she had to take the call. She couldn't ignore the calling. She softly excused herself from the 'group session' and walked upstairs, flipping the phone open and starting to talk immediately. While she was talking on the phone, she was in her closet, finding herself multi tasking and putting her 'work clothes' on while she communicated.

Downstairs, Miley knew exactly what was going on. She knew who Brandi was talking to and that in a matter of a few minutes she would walk back downstairs in a slightly skanky outfit and say that she needs to meet a friend or she needs to run a few errands and that she'll be back in a few hours. But Miley had already heard of what she was doing, she was well informed. Maybe, she was informed just a little more than she needed to be. But, then again, she needed the information. The information of her sister's commitments told her exactly what she needed to fix, and without that knowledge, she'd just be a clueless teenager.

It took ten minutes, ten minutes and Brandi was finished with her phone call, finished putting on her 'skankier' clothes and had rushed down the stairs. She gets to the door, then turns around and meets Miley's eyes. Brandi's eyes are full of guilt and unhappiness, but at this point, Miley can do nothing but watch her go. "I have something I need to do, I'll be back in a little while," she explains, avoiding Miley's gaze after their quick connection, too ashamed to look her in the eye. "Bye," she says quickly, rushing out the door.

As soon as she's out the door Miley takes a deep breath in, releasing it slowly. It's hard for her to just sit there while her sister runs off to sleep with yet another man because she thinks she needs to keep the house up and running, and that's the only way to do it. She was in the same position only a short time ago and she wishes that someone could have stopped her before it all went down. But she kept it a secret. And now she just needs to wait for the perfect time to stop Brandi.

"I'm going to go visit Peter today, do you want to come?" Nick asks, grabbing hold of Miley's hand, trying to get her mind off of her sister's issues and onto a… slightly better situation. Miley laces her fingers with Nick's, then slowly looks up at him. She blinks several times, then licks her lips. Everything seems to be moving in slow motion and then she finally comprehends Nick's words.

"Of course," she says, nodding her head. "Of course I want to go. When are you planning on going?" she asks.

"I plan on going here in just a few minutes, if that's alright with you," he says, reassuring that his plans match hers and that he won't be interfering with anything she needs to do within the next few hours.

"My schedule is cleared out for quite a long time, I think I can manage to be ready in a few minutes," she says, getting up from her spot on the couch and walking up the stairs to her room. Once she's there she goes to her closet, searching through the mess of clothes until she finds a decent looking t-shirt and a pair of old and very comfortable blue jeans to wear. She slips the clothes onto her body and finds a pair of shoes to go with the outfit. Then she throws her hair up into a sloppy bun and freshens up her mascara, deciding she should look at least half way decent. Then, without a second glance in the mirror, she walks back down the stairs and meets Nick at the doorway.

They lace their fingers together, the process becoming a thing they just do; like a habit. And they walk to Nick's vehicle, unlatching their fingers only when they absolutely have to. Then when Nick and Miley are both settled into the car, they hold hands again, allowing Nick to drive one-handed. Some people don't feel safe in a moving vehicle if the driver is only driving with one hand, but Miley feels safer when he drives with just one hand. But only if the hand that's not on the wheel is holding her own hand. Miley stares at their fingers, memorizing the way their fingers intertwine and how their palms just latch together like a piece of a puzzle.

She stares for a good while, in fact, she stares until Nick turns the vehicle off. The sudden stop causes her to look up and out the window; they've already arrived at the club. "Well, that sure didn't take very long," she says, letting loose of Nick's fingers and jumping out of the vehicle. She reflects, as soon as she's out of the car. The last time she was here she was terrified, not even sure if she was ready to take 'that step', but now, she's as free as a weed and ready to hit this brick with a sledge hammer.

Nick walks around the vehicle, closing her door since she left it open from her sudden flashback and then grabs her hand once again. And they start walking, toward the place that used to be torture but is now just another place, that has a lot of history and after today, hopefully, they won't have to fool with anymore.

Miley swings open the door, acting as if she's just entering her own house and trails Nick behind her, walking straight to Peter's office. She knocks loudly, two times. And waits patiently for the door to open and Peter to pop his nasty looking head out. But, Peter doesn't answer the door, a different person does.

"May I help you?" she asks. It's a girl, with long black hair, dark eyes and a very cute, petite body. She looks confused, glancing at Nick, then Miley, then back to Nick. They just stare at her. She clears her throat, "Hello? May I help you?" she asks again, knocking them out of their staring phase.

"We're looking for Peter, the owner," Miley explains to the woman. The lady shakes her head, stepping on out of the office and leaving the door wide open.

"Peter told me you all would come, I'm sorry guys but he sold the building to me and said he was leaving the state, then he told me that I might have some visitors and I am supposed to tell you that I will be hiring appropriate aged women to work at my bar and I'm considering taking the stripping business completely out." Her smile becomes contagious and Miley's face lights up, and then Nick's in response.

"Well, thank you Miss, I'm very glad to see that you have taken over, I'm sorry that we have bothered you and we will leave you be now," Nick says, tugging on Miley's hand and starting their walk back toward the front door.

"It's fine guys," the lady says, walking back into her new office and shutting the door behind her. Meanwhile, Nick and Miley walk out of the building with a proud way about them. They most definitely scared the grown man off, whether he was able to admit that or not. Two teenagers scaring a creepy old guy out of his business, now _that_ should make the papers.  
**A/n: Personally, my favorite little saying at the beginning. :)  
School starts Wednesday :( which means cheer practice will be starting soon too & i'm taking loads of hard classes this year. It's all so frustrating. but, i will update as soon as i can. you all know i'm like, superrr slow. but i'll try. my best.  
& i've kind of decided what will happen from here on out in each chapter, + i think there will be 43 chapters before _the end_. :)**


	36. Chapter 36

**The Perfect Boyfriend  
Chapter Thirty-Six  
Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

_When she's so tore up she has to scream,  
Wait for it to pass, and then be waiting for her with open arms._

The next step of the equation is what Miley is proving to find very difficult to solve. She has a sister, a sister that she loves very dearly, a sister that she wishes no less than the greatest success possible and she's risking her future, risking everything that she's worked so hard for up to this point. Brandi has received several scholarships to help her make her way through college, wishing to achieve, what seems to be, the unreachable goal of becoming a doctor in the town that she lives in. She is almost there, almost to the next step, college.

But now, Brandi has a job and Brandi worries about her family and how they're going to survive financially. Sure, they aren't paying for Tish's alcohol anymore, but they still have water bills, electric bills, phone bills, and the list goes on and on. What other job could she possibly find that would pay as much as she's receiving right now? Nothing. No job pays better. And she sure as heck wasn't willing to quit with such good pay.

So, the ultimate question pops up; How is Brandi going to make it through college, paying _that_ bill, paying the housing bills and taking care of her sister while her mother gets herself together?

Brandi has ultimately decided that she isn't going to attend college. At least not right now, maybe she'll wait a year and start back later, when her mom is fully recovered. But that's not okay, she has the full potential to get into college, go full force and make it on the honor's list, be wonderful. The ultimate equation must be solved. And there's a time limit.

"What?" Miley blares, staring at her sister in utter shock, surely to goodness she did not just hear the words that she thinks she heard come out of her sister's mouth. Surely to goodness she's just hallucinating, going crazy, maybe. But she did _not_ hear Brandi say that. No way, no how.

"I've decided that I'm not going to go to college," Brandi announces, for the second time. Miley heard right, she bites down on her lip, getting up from her chair and pacing around the room with her hands on either side of her head, pushing down on her skull and hoping that it'll all go away, that she'll seek some unlearned super powers and be able to control things with her mind. She paces for a good five minutes, continuing to smash down on her head, and then she removes her hands. Nothing's changed.

"You've got to be kidding me Brandi, you've got scholarships! You've got the brains! Why in the world would you decide something as crazy as that?" Miley yells, getting right in front of her sister.

"I have scholarships Miley and I know that I'm smart and that I can make it, but those scholarships aren't enough. They run out eventually and I don't have enough money to help me pay when eventually comes, I just can't do it," Brandi states calmly, looking at her sister and trying to calm her down in the best way possible.

"I'm going to get a job, I'll be helping with the bills and it won't be nearly as bad! You can save up what money you don't use and wha la! Problem solved," Miley says, smiling from ear to ear. But her smiles fades once she notices that the expression on Brandi's face isn't changing a bit.

"I've got to take care of this place, I've got to take care of you and make sure that you're safe. I'm not going to make you get a job so that I can do something for myself. That's selfish," Brandi says. Miley's eyes grow wide and her mouth flaps open.

"College is NOT selfish Brandi! College is far from selfish. You go to college and graduate, then you get a job and guess what, you make more money at that job than what you would if you didn't have a college education! College is NOT selfish," Miley yells, starting her pace back around the room.

Brandi closes her eyes, putting her head in her hands, she thought that Miley would understand, take the news better but obviously, this is not the thing she wanted to hear.

"If you don't go to college, then you're being selfish, then you can consider yourself being selfish, otherwise no, I won't allow it," she rambles.

"You're not my freaking mother Miley!" Brandi cuts her off, jumping up from her seat and throwing her hands up in the air, "Stop acting like you run this place, I'm the one that pays the bills, I'm the one that makes sure you're safe and that you go the right way. If anything, I'm your mother, and I tell you what to do. You have no right to tell ME what to do," Brandi yells, glaring at her sister. Miley snickers.

"You're my parental figure, huh? Is that right Brandi? Cause see, from what I've learned of life is that you're supposed to look up at your parental figure, possibly follow in their footsteps. But I sure ain't gonna look up or follow in the footsteps of a prostitute," Miley says, sneering the word to conclude her 'mini speech'. Tears flow into Brandi's eyes, she licks her lip carefully, and most of the time Miley would have felt bad for saying such cruel words to her sister, but all she spoke was the truth, and maybe this is what Brandi needs, a little sense knocked into her.

"I am not—," Brandi starts, allowing Miley to cut her off once again.

"You're a prostitute Brandi, whether you want to admit it or not, you sleep with a lot of guys and you get paid for it in, pretty much, a whore house. So don't try to tell me that you're not a prostitute, and don't try to tell yourself that either, because that's a lie. If you can't accept what you are and not be sad or embarrassed about it, then you shouldn't be doing it!" Miley screams, her eyes have grown cold and she looks at her sister like she would a prostitute and not her sister. That's what she's grown to know her as.

"How else are we going to pay for anything Miley, huh? How else do you expect to keep the electric on and food in the fridge? Huh? You tell me how and I'll get right on it," Brandi yelps, tears now flowing down her reddened face. But, Miley's not finished.

"It's called a regular job Brands, I figured it out, maybe you should get it through your thick skull that what you're doing is awful and get a regular job! Like regular people who have families to feed and bills to pay and then, after you go to college, you can make even more money at a super-duper regular job and then you'll wonder why on God's green earth you ever became a whore in the first place!" Miley screams, "So, go ahead Brandi, go ahead and get right at it. I've told you exactly how to keep it all up and running now you need to 'get right now it'," Miley finishes, taking out of the living room and running up to her bedroom.

Brandi sinks down in the couch, her chest heaving as she desperately tries to catch her breath. She places her hands over her face and rubs at her eyes, wanting the tears and the pain and the hateful words to just disappear, to float away to some other land and leave her alone.

Meanwhile, Miley runs into her bedroom and immediately sees Nick sitting on her bed, his arms wide open and ready for her to run into. She does just that, crying into his chest and listening to his soothing words and trying to just pay attention to the warm feeling of his hand going round in circles on her back.

The equation hasn't been solved, it could possibly never be solved, but then again, people do change their minds.

**A/n: I don't really have anything to say, and I'm super tired because of school so I'm probably going to go to bed now. So, goodnight :)**


	37. Chapter 37

**The Perfect Boyfriend  
Chapter Thirty-Seven  
Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

_When you notice that she's happy…  
Let her know that you're happy for her._

Brandi and Miley refused to speak to each other for a good while, that one argument had caused a great deal of fussing in the future. Nothing has been solved yet, that nothing may never be solved. We'll just see. It's been a while since Tish went off to rehab, and not a sound has been heard from her. But Miley has decided to take that as a good sign, that everything is working it out in an excellent amount of time.

"Hey," Nick says, closing the magazine he was looking at when he sees Miley entering into his room, "It's good to see you," he says, getting up from the bed and walking over to her, wrapping his arms tightly around her petite body.

"It's good to see you too," she replies, a giant smile resting on her face. She wraps her arms around his neck kisses his cheek lightly. "I just needed to get out of the house, Brandi's been giving me crap," she says, taking a deep breath and rolling her eyes.

"Don't you think it's about time to talk to her and work everything out?" Nick asks, looking at her with concerned eyes, he knows that Brandi and Miley have a strong sister-sister relationship, they can talk to each other about anything, even some things that he can't talk to with Miley, and if that connection is lost for a long time then it only hurts them both. And he hates to see that.

"I want to, she just shuts me down every time I try, saying that I'm not her mother and that she doesn't want to talk to me and I can't force her, she's acting like a little kid," Miley says, rolling her eyes again, "I don't care though, I'll be fine without her," she smiles, tightening her grip around Nick's neck. He decides to go ahead and let her have her way for now, but if they didn't work this mess out soon, he'd have to take charge and make a change happen.

"I've got good news," Nick says, causing a sudden change in the conversation.

"And what's that?" Miley asks, suddenly curious and dying to know what Nick is about to say.

"I think I may have found you a job," he smiles, Miley's face brightens up.

"Really? Where?" she asks, excited. Normally, teenagers would despise the thought of working at anything. But Miley has a family she needs to help; she needs to help pay the bills. This job, whatever it is, has to be better than the last one and she is willing to do anything in her nature to get this job and if she does get it, keep it.

"At this café in town. I was talking to one of my friends from school and he was telling me about how his parents were looking for some workers at their café and I asked if maybe you could work there. All you have to do is fix up a resume and go down there for an interview. And then they'll decide if you can have the job or not." Nick informs her.

"When am I supposed to go for the interview?" Miley asks.

"He said any day was fine, except for Sundays, from eight in the morning to seven at night, that's the hours," Nick tells her. She nods her head yes and loosens her arms from around his neck.

"This is great, this is so wonderful!" She exclaims, jumping up and down a couple times before settling down and wrapping her arms back around him, kissing him a couple times. Nick laughs, enjoying the company of her happy mood.

**xo**

"I'm nervous," Miley says quietly, looking around the small café that her and Nick just walked in to. Nick wraps his arm around her waist and leans down to kiss her temple.

"It'll be just fine," he reassures her, squeezing her body slightly. Her eyes grow wide as she sees the owner walk out from behind the counter, surely to goodness he wouldn't just walk over, would he?

"What if they don't like me? What if I'm not cut out for this? What if-," she gets cut off by Nick's lip placed on hers.

"Shh, baby, it's going to be just fine, I assure you. You're likable and a great worker. Everything's going to turn out just fine," He repeats himself, wanting her to be as calm as she possibly can be through this thing. Being herself is exactly what is going to get her this job.

"You're right, I can do this," she says, nodding her head proudly. Nick motions for her to walk on over to the man and she does just that, without a second thought. She walks up to the tall man, "Hi, I'm Miley, I sent in my resume earlier and you told me to come in for an interview at anytime throughout your work week," she explains, letting all her nerves slowly flow away as he smiles down at her with a hand stuck out. She shakes his hand.

"Right this way Miss Miley," he says, leading her to his office.

The first thing she notices about his office is that it's much friendlier looking than Peter's was. Instead of a rusted looking file cabinet he had a metal file with magnets of businesses and on his desk, he doesn't just have papers spread around, he has pictures galore of his kids and family. Miley's smile grew wider just at seeing this, she already feels much more comfortable here and taking a seat in front of his desk didn't feel like a death wish, it just felt… normal.

"So, Miley, I understand that you have no previous work involving waiting on tables but I've been told that you are an excellent worker and that I would be grateful to have you. Of course, this is a small town and I know your background without even glancing at your resume and I know all about your family. I know that you are an excellent student and excel in everything you do. Why do you think I should give this job to you?" he finishes off, looking at Miley intently as he folds his hands in front of him on the desk.

"Well, going back to what you were saying about me, I am a hard worker and I will do my best. Even though I don't have a background in this business I'm very positive that I can do a wonderful job." Miley continues to list off a number of reasons of why he should hire her at the job.

**xo**

"How'd it go?" Nick asks, walking up to her as soon as she walks out of the door leading to the office. Miley smiles brightly and wraps her arms around Nick's neck, squeezing him lightly.

"Great, it was wonderful Nick, he said he'll call me on Friday and let me know but I just think that even if I don't get this job, which I really do want, I can go and find another one and it's going to have a greater environment than her last, and she's going to actually enjoy it.

"I'm glad you're happy," he says, smiling down at her with a small smile playing on his lips.

"It's all because of you Nicky," she replies, leaning up and placing a small kiss on his lips.

**A/n: It's been a while! :) I hope you enjoyed it, if not, oh well, i tried. i've been really busy (as always) with school and cheer and ... stuff. so, yeah, please forgive me for always being super late.  
ANNNDD 500 REVIEWS! Go guys! I love you all so much! :) thank you, thank you, thank you!**


	38. Chapter 38

**The Perfect Boyfriend  
Chapter Thirty-Eight  
Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

_When you're just hanging out,  
Ask her how her day was._

Brandi waits until the stranger leaves the room then she quickly gets up from the bed and pulls her clothes onto her body. Then, she pulls her hair up into a messy pony tail and grabs her belongings from the floor. Just the sight of this room any longer makes her want to gag. She's tired of all this, tired of having to give herself up to so many people, people that she doesn't even know. She'd hate to be asked how many sexual partners she's had, because she's not quite sure what she would say.

One hundred? Maybe. Over one hundred? That's more like it.

She always made fun of people that were like her when she was younger. Saying how they'd made a disaster out of their lives and that they'll never be able to get it back. She promised herself that she'd never let her get in any sort of situation where she had to do that. She would never go that low. But, she has. She's a lame excuse for a human being and she hates herself for that, she even hates the fact that her friends and family have to put up with her and what she's become.

She quickly walks to the door, opening it and closing it as fast as she can. As soon as she is outside of the room she can feel herself breathe, but only a little bit. When you first come into this 'house' it's like a maze, hard to get through, but by now she knows exactly how to get in and get out as quickly as possible. Whenever she reaches the outside and has the door leading into the God forsaken place she takes another deep breath as she practically runs down the stairs and to her car. She keeps her eyes staring through the windshield and never takes her eyes away from the road in front of her as she drives herself home, grateful that that part of her day is over with.

As she pulls up into the driveway at her home she can see the living room light is on so she knows that Miley is home. At this moment, she doesn't feel like dealing with her trying to talk to her and make everything better. Right now, she just wants to sulk and take a nice warm bath. So, she decides to sneak in the back door.

After sneaking in, quite easily, she tip toes up to her bedroom and locks herself in. Throwing herself on her bed, she wraps herself in covers and finally gets some long overdue sleep.

**three hours later.**

Brandi wakes up from her deep slumber and immediately hears her stomach growl. There's no telling how long it's been since she ate; she never keeps track of stuff like that. She clumsily removes herself from the covers and walks downstairs, surprised to see Miley sitting comfortably on the couch while watching television.

"We're going to have to talk sometime, you know?" Miley says, keeping her eyes on the TV.

"I know, Miley, but not right now," Brandi replies, continuing her quest to get food from the kitchen. Miley follows her.

"Why not now? Why not just get it over with right now and keep ourselves from any more torture of having to think that the other hates the other? What's the point in that when we could just talk right now?" Miley argues, trying her best to get her sister to just talk to her about everything. After all, that would be the first step back to 'normal'.

"Because I don't want to talk right now Miley, I've had a long day and I'm just not in the mood to hear it," Brandi says, obviously annoyed by the tone of her voice.

"You don't want to hear what? The truth? Brandi, I can't help but want to protect you from the bad stuff. Yes, I'm the younger sister and you're supposed to protect me and you do just great at that, but right now it's my turn and I would really appreciate it if you would just let me in and let me protect you." Miley continues, looking at her sister for a moment before walking out of the kitchen and back into the living room to watch some more TV.

Brandi stops looking through the refrigerator for split second and takes a deep breath, keeping the tears from forming in her eyes. Then, she continues her raid, pulling out a bunch of random things to make herself a sandwich.

After her sandwich making she eats the sandwich, as one would. And then, she cleans up her mess.

Now, it's time for her to walk back through the living room to go upstairs, through the living room that Miley is sitting in, luring her in to come and talk to her. So, she walks into the living room, trying not to even glance in Miley's direction, but she fails. And there sits Miley, just staring at the TV but obviously listening to Brandi's movements. And Brandi gives in, walking over to the couch and sitting down beside her sister.

"So, go ahead, let's talk," Brandi says, looking at the television. Miley removes her eyes from the screen and looks over at her sister with a slight grin on her face.

"I was a stripper," Miley blurts out, causing Brandi to jerk her attention toward Miley.

"What?" she yells, looking at Miley with wide eyes.

"I wanted to help the family too, so I went out and looked for a job. Nobody would take me so I went down to this bar and they hired me as a bar tender, but quickly after that I got 'promoted' and tad a, I was a stripper," Miley announces, nodding her head at the end.

"Miles, that's awful, why didn't you tell me?" Brandi asks, concern laced all through her voice.

"Because I was ashamed, even though I was stripping in front of tons of men, I was so ashamed of myself, and I know that you are too Brandi, I know how it feels. You feel like you have to protect us, to keep the bills paid, but we're in this together and I'm working on getting another job, a better job, and if you would just let this job that you have now go, then you could see that there are better things out there," Miley tries, knowing that the first attempt usually never works, but hoping that this one will.

"I can't just walk away Miles, do you realize how much I get paid and how well it's helped me to get us by?" Brandi tries to explain, looking at Miley with stressed looking eyes. "I can't just walk away," she finishes, looking down at her hands.

"Brands, I know how much money you're making, I was a stripper, okay? And though the two don't make exactly the same amount, I know that the money's good and I know that it really helps, but you just can't go on like this. What if you got pregnant? Or an STD? what would you do then?" Miley asks, grabbing her sister's hand and squeezing it tight.

"What else am I supposed to do Miley? No other job is going to pay the bills, especially now that mom is gone and she's not working…" Brandi continues, still looking down at her hands, pleased that Miley's grabbed onto it for support.

"No, whatever job you get might not work, it might now be enough to pay all the bills, but I'm getting a job too Brandi, and with both of us working, it'll be enough. I promise, all of this would be so much better if you would just quit, please just quit, for me," Miley says, tears working their way into her eyes.

"I want to Miley, but I just, I don't know," she lets out a deep breath, finally raising her face to look at Miley, showing off the salty tears that are now streaming down her face.

"I'll help you, I'll help you get out of this and I'll be there with you through everything, and no matter how tough it is we'll get through this together." Miley says, giving her sister's hand another good squeeze.

Brandi takes another deep breath, "I can't say that I will quit, I can't say that I'll be able to do this, but," she pauses, over thinking what she's about to say, "I'll try," she finally says, looking into Miley's eyes. Miley smiles widely and quickly wraps her arms around her sisters torso.

"Oh, thank you so much! You have no idea how much this means to me. Thank you, thank you, thank you," she squeals, squeezing her sister's body just a little too tight.

"Miles," Brandi gets out, trying her best to breathe normally. Miley let's go of Brandi and gives her an apologetic look.

"Sorry," she apologizes, biting on her bottom lip.

**later at Nick's.**

"So, what happened today?" Nick asks his girlfriend, looking at her with admiration in his eyes as he sweeps her hair out of her face.

"Me and Brandi worked everything out, and she agreed to try and quit her job and get another one," Miley smiles, her eyes brightening as she gives him the good news.

"That's wonderful Miles, I'm so happy for you," he smiles with her, leaning down and kissing the tip of her nose. She giggles wildly and wraps her arms around his neck.

"You were so right Nick," Miley says unexpectedly, he slightly frowns and looks at her confused.

"Right about what?" he asks, the confusion obvious in his eyes.

"About everything getting better, I mean, even though Brandi isn't out of her job, she agreed to try and to me, that's definitely a sign of things changing for the better," she says, keeping her eyes locked on his. He smiles widely, leaning down and kissing her lips tenderly.

**A/n: Okay, so it's not really about Nick and Miley, but I feel like the story really needed this chapter, because of the whole Brandi situation. And I think it was a really great chapter, which is weird coming from me because I usually don't think anything that I write is even good, so, yeah. I hope you enjoyed it :)  
& I'm super sorry that it's taken me over a month to get a new chapter out, I'm a big time slacker with some really hard classes this year. :)**


	39. Chapter 39

**The Perfect Boyfriend  
Chapter Thirty-Nine  
Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

_When she doesn't want to talk about it,  
let it go and just hang out._

"So, what am I supposed to do?" Brandi asks, looking at her phone and just waiting for it to start vibrating. She slowly looks up at her sister, a terrified look splattered across her face. Miley reaches toward her and grabs her hand, squeezing it lightly.

"You're going to answer the phone and tell whoever it is that's calling that you quit, simple," Miley says, looking into her sister's eyes and trying to make her just the tiniest bit confident so that she'll be able to do this. Brandi slowly nods and looks back down at her phone, her eyes going wide when she sees the caller id light up. Quickly, she glances back up at Miley.

"I'm right here, it's going to be fine," Miley says, giving her a reassuring look.

"He-Hello?" Brandi stutters, holding the phone close to her ear and keeping her gaze focused entirely on her sister's encouraging face.

"Brandi, I texted you over two hours ago, your guy is here and he's getting very angst-y, where in the world are you?" he asks, obviously annoyed and pretty mad. Brandi takes a deep breath, losing focus on Miley's eyes.

"Um, I'm at home," she replies, her voice shaking wildly.

"Your what? Brandi, I really need you to get down here, he requested you and he's one of your regulars, if you don't get your butt down here we're going to lose him," he yells, Brandi slowly inching the phone away from her ear. Miley leans over and lifts Brandi's chin, making her look back at her and giving her a quick nod. _Just say it,_ she mouths.

"I- uh- I don't think I can come in," she says, keeping the phone about an inch away from her ear, because at the rate his voice keeps rising, she's liable to lose her hearing.

"You what?" he screams, causing Brandi to wince.

"Be strong Brands," Miley whispers, keeping her voice low so that the man on the phone doesn't know that she's not alone.

"I'm sorry, I just, I can't do this anymore," Brandi says, biting down on her lip.

"You've got to be kidding me. Brandi, you've got people calling me every stinking day, expecting you to be here, you can just think that I'm going to be able to tell them that you've quit," his voice calms down just a tiny bit, but it's obvious that he's still highly upset and he's not going to let this go down without a fight.

"I just, I can't," she says, not being able to think of any other words.

"Carter's going to be very upset with you if you quit Brandi," the man replies, his voice completely calm now. Brandi freezes, Carter, the guy that got her into this mess but also her best friend that she's secretly in love with. What does she do now? She can't disappoint Carter. Miley's eyes get wide when she realizes that Brandi isn't saying anything. She quickly nudges her knee, breaking her out of her trance. Brandi instantly looks at her sister, she can't disappoint Miley either.

"Umm, I just, I don't know," Brandi stutters, licking at her lips. She never imagined this scenario in her mind when she was thinking this conversation up and all the things that could go wrong. Not once did she think about Carter.

"I'm taking that as you're going to be coming in within the next five minutes, am I right?" the man asks, and you can just hear the smirk in his voice. Brandi sighs heavily, her breathing starts to increase dramatically and her eyes widen.

"I-uh-I guess," she whispers in defeat, "Wait," she starts, still not sure of what she's saying. This all seems like a dream, no, a nightmare and she wants to wake up as soon as possible.

"Yes, Brandi?" he says.

"I can't," she whispers, tears starting to flow from her eyes. Miley looks at her with worried eyes, she quickly crawls closer to her sister, embracing her shaking body with her arms. Brandi feels just a tiny bit of relief, but it's just not enough relief for this moment.

"You can't what?" she hears the man ask.

"I quit," she says quickly, her voice shake-y from her little breakdown. "I quit, I can't continue feeling like a giant slut, I quit," she says, her voice growing just a tiny bit stronger. Miley gives her an encouraging look and a small smile.

"Listen," the man's voice grows dark, "I'm giving you an ultimatum, either you're in here within the next five minutes ready to work or I'm going to be forced to send Carter out to see you," he finishes off, just hoping that the Carter issue will throw her over the edge.

"I quit," she whispers, closing her phone before she can hear any more words that come from his mouth through the phone.

"I'm so proud," Miley says, squeezing her sister in the hug that she's been holding her in for the past few minutes, "You did wonderful Brandi," she continues.

"Yeah," Brandi whispers, "Can I just be alone for a while?" she asks, staring straight ahead. Miley looks at her with a confused face but slowly lets loose of the hold she has on her sister.

"Of course, are you alright Brandi?" she asks, standing up from her spot on the bed.

"I'm fine, just leave, please," she says, laying down on her bed and curling up into a tight ball.

"Okay," Miley says, walking away from Brandi and out into the hallway. She was just positive that after Brandi quit she would be ecstatic and want to go out and do something fun, to celebrate her freedom.

Meanwhile, Brandi is still tied up in her covers, thinking about one thing only; Carter. She hasn't been able to see him in a month or so but her feelings still haven't changed and even though he put her in an awful position, she knows that she'll always love him and the fact that she's going to have to face him about this whole situation is killing her. Maybe she should just get up and go on over to tend to that man…

"Hey Nick, do you want to come over?" Miley asks over the phone, still slightly let down that her sister didn't want to go out with her, but who else is better to call than her wonderful boyfriend?

"Of course, I'll be over in a few," he replies, hanging up the phone. Miley closes her phone and sits down on the living room couch, fiddling with her phone in her hands. She stays in that position until Nick walks through the front door. He walks straight over to the couch, sitting down beside her.

"Is something wrong?" he asks, looking at her with concerned eyes.

"I don't really want to talk about it," she replies, looking at him with a tiny smile, "I just want to enjoy this evening," she finishes. He nods his head and leans toward her, kissing the top of her head.

"Good, because guess what I brought with me?" he asks with excitement, starting to reach behind him, where he obviously had slipped something when he sat down.

"What?" she asks, the excitement getting to her and already turning her frown upside down.

"Grey's Anatomy," he says, pulling out the case that holds the entire season one of the show. Miley squeals, grabbing the case from his hands.

"When did you get this?" she asks, looking at him with happy eyes.

"I bought it the other day because I know how much you like it and I figured it would be something else we could do together," he smiles, placing his hand on her cheek and tracing small circles on her soft skin.

"No way, you're going to actually watch it?" she asks, her eyes growing wider.

"Of course I am, with you," he says, leaning down and kissing her pale pink lips. She kisses him back quickly, wrapping her free hand around his neck. Nick pulls away, but continues to rest his forehead against her own. "It better be good," he says, earning a small chuckle from Miley.

"Oh, it is, I promise," she says.

**One hour later.**

"This is awful," Nick says, groaning as he watches doctors walk the halls of some hospital.

"You're an awful show picker, this is amazing!" Miley says, engrossed in the show.

"I don't know why you like this so much, what's so special about it?" he asks, looking toward Miley.

"Well, one because it's got relationships, two because there's tons of drama and three because it's got all kinds of surgery stuff," she says, not even looking Nick's way as she continues to stare at the screen. Nick chuckles, wrapping his arm around her waist.

"Whatever you say babe," he whispers, lowering his head and kissing her temple.

**a/n: **there was a decrease in reviews last chapter but I'm completely putting the blame on myself. I honestly think last chapter didn't get very many reviews because it took me so long to publish the chapter. And I'm sorry for that. From here until the story is finished (which is only a couple chapters) I am going to try VERY hard to post one chapter every week.  
:)


	40. Chapter 40

**The Perfect Boyfriend  
Chapter Forty  
Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

_When she's worrying to no end,  
Tell her to just have some faith._

Brandi slowly wakes up that morning, feeling like the average girl. Then she remembers her phone call yesterday and a groan erupts from her lips. She squeezes her eyes shut, hoping that she'll be able to fall back asleep if she tries hard enough. But after ten minutes of trying to force herself back to sleep she decides to just get up and face reality. She rolls out of her bed and slowly walks into the bathroom right next to her room.

She takes a quick shower, and then wraps a towel around her body to walk back to her room. Once she's inside her sanctuary she slides on her undergarments before walking over to her closest. She glances at the clothes for a few seconds before grabbing a pair of comfy jeans and a t-shirt. She pulls the clothing on to her body and then blow dries her hair, not bothering to do anything else to it. Then, without a second glance in her mirror, she walks downstairs and into the kitchen once she hears her stomach growl in hunger.

Miley notices Brandi enter into the kitchen and throws a small smile in her direction, "Hey, how are you feeling?" she asks, letting her spoon fall into the bowl of cereal she was eating.

"Better, I guess," Brandi slightly mumbles, walking over to the refrigerator and pulling out a bottle of unopened orange juice. She swiftly pulls off the cap and pours the liquid into a glass.

"Is there anything I can do?" Miley tries, really worried about her sibling.

"I just, I don't know if I made the right decision in quitting," Brandi says, turning away from the counter and toward Miley. But once she sees Miley's confused face she looks down at her fingers, twiddling them around.

"I know it may feel real tough right now but I promise it gets better. You don't realize how free you were before that job for a while, but once you get there and you realize what you had before everything, it's amazing," Miley says, speaking from the heart. She thought it was going to be tough not having a job too, then she realized that there are all kinds of other jobs out there that are… healthier.

Brandi keeps her eyes on Miley for a few seconds, and then turns her back toward her sister, chewing on her cereal. She doesn't know how to reply, she doesn't want to reply. Right now, she just wants to be miserable. But, sometimes that can just make matters worse.

**later on.**

"I'm worried about her," Miley gushes, her eyes wide and her arms moving with every word that comes out of her mouth, "She didn't know if she made the right decision, she told me! What if she calls that dude back and tells him that she's changed her mind and that she doesn't want to quit, what do I do then? I've been strong Nick, real strong, but I don't know how strong I'll be if I don't even have faith in what I'm trying to make happen," she finishes. She's admitted out loud that she doesn't have faith, not if her sister goes back to what she just help her get out of. And who could? It's hard to keep putting something together if the whole puzzle just keeps falling apart.

"Let's just hope for the best," Nick tries, he's been listening to Miley's worries for over an hour now and he's running out of things to say.

"But what if she goes back? I can't hope for the best when there's a fifty percent chance that she'll go back to doing that… awful stuff," Miley says, her eyebrows wrinkling up.

"But you've got to remember Miles, there's also a fifty percent chance that she won't go back. You've got to be optimistic about this, believe in your sister and her decisions, and hope that she chooses the right path from here. But, if she doesn't then you'll figure something out afterwards, you always figure something out," Nick continues, walking over to his bed and taking a seat.

"You're getting tired of me talking, I'm so sorry, I'm just really worried Nick," she says, walking toward the bed and sitting down next to him.

"I'm not tired of you talking; I'll never get tired of you talking. I just think that you need to have a little hope, believe in your sister. That's all I'm saying. And I know that you're worried, I'm worried about all of you but you've just got to have that faith or else you're going to bust and once you've busted it's really hard to get back to your original state so please Miles, just have a little faith in her and chill out for a moment," he says, one eyebrow raised so high it looks unnatural.

Miley relaxes her shoulders slightly and takes a really deep breath, looking toward the wall. "Okay," she continues to breathe heavily, letting Nick's words course through her head a couple times before she completely comprehends what she needs to do.

"You worry too much Miles," Nick says, moving himself around the bed so that he's sitting behind Miley, her back resting gently on his chest. He leans down, kissing her now fully relaxed shoulder and brings his hands up, massaging her body gently. "Just relax," he whispers, letting his hands completely calm down her body.

**with brandi.**

The knock on the door woke her from her trance, she's been staring at the wall for almost an hour now. Even though it catches her attention, pulling her out of her content mind, she can't find the will power at first to get up from the couch and walk over to the door. Her mind goes in several different directions, maybe Miley will come home and tell whoever it is at the door to go away, or it's just a Girl Scout wanting to sell cookies and if she would just get up from her seat she could devour in five boxes of the unhealthy snacks.

The knocking continues; whoever it is, they're not giving up. She takes a giant gulp, putting her fists on the cushions of the couch and straightening out her arms; the first step of getting up. Then she stiffens out her knees, allowing her body to go into full standing position. Two more knocks and then she starts to move her legs, walking over to the door. Her teeth dig into her bottom lip and she's sure that at any moment she'll be able to taste her own blood, but before that can happen she opens the door.

Her body goes stiff, yeah, this is exactly who she thought it would be, and he was the main reason she could hardly get up this morning but no matter how long she had thought about what he would look like when he arrived at her door, or how upset he would be whenever he actually started talking to her, well, it didn't prepare her for the actual moment.

"Hi," she whispers, trying her best to not seem scared in his presence, or anxious, or nervous, or giddy, or all of the above.

"May I come in?" he asks, his voice very businesslike. She nods her head shyly, moving out of the doorway so that he has room to maneuver his way in. He doesn't stop whenever he's past the door though, he just continues walking until he's in the living room where Brandi had just came from, and was settled comfortably on the loveseat.

Reluctantly, Brandi shuts the door and follows him into the living room, letting her butt fall back into the couch cushion. She watches him as he leans up from his relaxed position and puts his elbows securely on his knees, his hands tightly folded together. He keeps his eyes focused on a distant object and occasionally shifts in his seat a tad bit. Brandi licks her lips slowly, at first she thought it would be better if he just didn't say anything, but now the silence is killing her and she just wants him to say something.

A few moments later he looks toward Brandi, a sincere, business look spread across his face. "Would you like to explain why you have decided to quit?" he asks, his smooth voice musically flowing out of his mouth.

"I just don't want to do it anymore, it's not me," she explains, looking up at Carter, her lower lip wanting to tremble because she just knows she's disappointing him, but she bites down on it, not allowing it to do so. What happens next, though, surprises her. Carter gets up from the loveseat and walks over to the couch, sitting next to her on the couch and wrapping his arms around her shoulders. Brandi goes into total shock mode and just sits there, stiff.

"I'm so sorry I put you through all that, I don't know what was going through my mind when I told you about that place and I never should have put my best friend in that position, I am so sorry Brandi," he gushes out, tightening his squeeze on Brandi's body. Slowly, she relaxes in his arms and wraps her own arms around his body, suddenly glad that he's not yelling at her and pointing fingers. This version of the story, this is much better.

"I thought you would be mad at me," she chokes out, her voice muttered because her face is dug deeply into his shoulder. Carter pulls away from her just the tiniest bit.

"I could never be mad at you Brandi," he shakes his head, looking into Brandi's eyes.

"Good," she smiles lightly, looking right back at him. It feels good to have somebody there that you can call your best friend and know that they're there for you. No matter what.

"I think we should have some Carter, Brandi time, what do you think?" he asks, a smile growing onto his own face. Brandi nods excitedly.

"We haven't had any of our fun time in a long time," she says, the mood instantly lighting up.

"How about we go see a movie and have dinner, then I'll go by the grocery store and buy you some of your favorite ice cream, how's that sound?" he grins, knowing that that's exactly what she needs. And that's only the beginning of what he deserves to give her.

**A/n:** It's been a while:)


	41. Chapter 41

**The Perfect Boyfriend  
Chapter Forty-One  
Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

_When she wants you to come over for a certain reason,  
Be sure to have it ready when she comes over to your place._

"Well, I think that you should come over to my house because I plan on having a very large meal of macaroni and cheese and I don't want to eat it all by myself," Miley giggles into the phone, her and Nick have been debating on who is coming over to who's house for the past hour, at this rate they'll just stay on the phone all afternoon and end up at opposite houses.

"And I think you should come over because I can have my mom fix that Italian chicken that you love so much," he smirks, knowing that this would be her weakest moment of the debate. Food. Oh, how Miley loves her food.

"God, Nick. You suck so much," she whines, a smile spread across her face.

"You love me," he brags, grabbing a baseball from his nightstand, throwing it up in the air and catching it easily as it falls back down.

"Alright I'll come over but there better be some of that yummy chicken whenever I get there because I'm starving," she says, finally giving in to his request.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll get mom on the ball right now and it'll be ready by the time you get your hair fixed," he says, getting up from his bed and starting his walk down the stairs to the kitchen where he knows his mother is; she's always in the kitchen.

"Ha, ha, you're so funny. For your information, my hair is already fixed and all I have to do is change my clothes and retouch my makeup," she replies, starting over to her closet so that she doesn't take a lot of time to get ready. Nick laughs loudly.

"Alrighty then, I'll see you in a few minutes," he says as he walks all the way into the kitchen, sitting down on one of the many stools.

"Bye," she says, hanging up her phone and quickly raiding through her closet, pulling out her comfiest jeans and an American Eagle t-shirt. She slips out of her pajamas and throws on the clothes. As soon as she is completely dressed and satisfied, she walks over to her vanity, pulling out various shades of eye shadow before she decides to just go really simple with a silver looking color.

Miley has almost completed her task of getting ready when she hears the doorbell go off. She groans loudly, screwing the lid back on to her mascara, and then gets up from her seat as she flies down the steps, gliding carefully into the living room and right up to the door. Without hesitation she pulls open the door, but once she looks up to see the person in front of her a gasp flies from her lips and her mouth stays a gape.

"Hey there darling," the man says, moving closer to her as he tries to embrace her in a hug. It was her dad; the man that she hoped would stay gone forever. She never wanted to see him again and here she was, face to face with the one person she never thought she would hate but ended up hating the worst.

"Go away," she says, putting her hand out in front of her, signaling for him to get no closer to her body than he already is.

"Miles, don't be like this," she throws him a quick glare, one eyebrow raised.

"Only people that I like are allowed to use that name, if you ever address me you must use my actual name," she informs him, lowering her hand back down to her side.

"I came to apologize," he says.

"No one here wants your apology, especially not me. You're a worthless piece of trash that has no business in being here, so leave, now," she holds her grip on the now, her voice strong and firm.

"You sure are growing up Miley, I've never saw you stand up for yourself so strongly before," he says, smiling down at her.

"You can say anything you want, alright? Nothing's going to change. You're not wanted here, leave!" she screams, holding a pointed finger toward the road.

"I miss you guys," he admits, his head dangling. Miley scoffs, looking at him in disbelief.

"You should have thought about missing us a long time ago before you cheated on mom in her own freaking house!" she says, grasping onto the door handle.

"Please just give me another chance Miley, I swear I've changed," he says. Miley lets go of the door and walks up to him, a stern look on her face.

"While you've been running around with some tramp doing God knows what, we've had to deal with our own problems, like how to pay for this house that you left us with, or how to deal without a fatherly figure in the house but we've managed to do it. And it's been a rough road and we've had a lot of hills and battles to fight through but nonetheless we've made it and to be honest, we're a much much happier family here without you. Your name hasn't been mentioned for months and it won't be mentioned until the day that you die and we rejoice. You ruined us, but we're better now and we're not going to let anything, especially a piece of scum like you to tear us down again. So, leave, and never come back," Miley finishes off, stepping back toward the door, she starts to close the door when she hears him whisper a few extra words.

"But, I love you guys," he says. Miley swings to door back open.

"And I hope you rot in hell," she says, closing the door and locking it so that he can't make any move to get into the house. Without a second thought, or peek out the window to see if her father was still out there, she climbs back up the stairs and finishes applying her mascara.

She always thought that when she saw her dad again she'd be so upset that she couldn't say a word; she'd cower away and possibly cry her eyes out. But right now, Miley is on such a high and all she can think about is getting over to Nick's and eating some of that wonderful chicken.

**a few minutes later.**

Miley arrives at her boyfriend's house, knocking lightly on the door twice before walking on into the house. She breathes in deeply at the smell of the wonderful aroma coming from the food in the kitchen before slipping off her shoes and throwing her purse down in the floor.

"Hello there beautiful lady," she hears his voice before she sees him, her face breaking out into a humongous smile. She rushes over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "You act as if you haven't saw me in forever," he laughs, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her lightly on the forehead.

"I haven't seen you all day, that's long enough," she replies.

"I agree," he says, letting go of her waist and intertwining their fingers together as he leads her to the kitchen.

"Hey there Miles," Denise says, once she sees the duo walk into the kitchen.

"Hey," Miley replies, sitting down in one of the chairs at the kitchen table, "Gosh I'm so hungry," she says.

"Well, as soon as I get this macaroni and cheese done we'll be ready to go," Denise says, turning back toward the stove.

"You had her make mac and cheese?" Miley asks, looking toward Nick who is now sitting beside her at the table.

"Of course I did," he says, leaning toward her and kissing her lightly on the lips.

**A/n:** & Miley has finally stood up for herself:), I pretty much love this chapter. But, that's just me.


	42. Chapter 42

**The Perfect Boyfriend  
Chapter Forty-Two  
Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

_When she hears good news,  
Take her out to celebrate._

It was three days past the day that Miley was supposed to get her phone call from who she thought was going to be her new boss, and though she was kind of upset that he had yet to call her, she wasn't about to let that one little piece get her down.

"I think I'm going to apply for another job or something," she announces, looking up at Nick. He smiles down at her, planting a small kiss on her forehead before replying.

"Sounds like a good idea to me," he says, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and pulling her closer to his body. They had been hanging out in his living room on the couch for that past two hours doing absolutely nothing except watching television and talking about occasional things that popped into one of their minds. It's a peaceful day, one of those lazy days that you wish could never end.

"I haven't heard from Mandy in a while," Miley says, just letting the thoughts wonder carelessly from her mind.

"Why don't you call her?" Nick suggests, keeping his eyes on the television where a reality show was playing. Miley thinks about it for a minute before jumping up from the couch. Nick looks at her, confused.

"I'm going to go call her," she says, taking her phone out of her pocket and scrolling through her contacts as she walks outside of the house, sitting down on the steps leading up the house as she waits for someone to answer.

"Hello?" a voice answers, and Miley instantly recognizes that it's Mandy.

"Hey Mandy, it's Miley," she tells her, not knowing if the girl on the other line has her number saved.

"Miley!" she squeals, causing a smile to pop up on Miley's face. "Oh, my gosh! I haven't talked to you in forever, how is everything? Did you hear that Peter left?" she gushes, quickly taking a deep breath. She goes to continue on with her little rant but Miley quickly cuts her off.

"Calm down Mands," she giggles, "I've been doing great, and I did hear that Peter left. How have you been doing?" she asks, wanting to know if Mandy ever got out of the business of danger but not wanting to ask directly.

"I've been good, I actually got a new job with the lady that took over the club. She shut down the strip club and just made the whole thing into a bar and she hired me as a bartender," Mandy explains, Miley smiles even brighter when she hears the news. Not only is she happy that one of her good friends got out of stripping for a living but also happy that the new boss had took out that part of the club completely.

"That's great, I'm glad to hear that you're doing good," Miley says.

"How about you?" she asks in return.

"I'm great, ever since leaving that awful place," Miley shivers slightly thinking about it. Mandy laughs lightly.

"I understand that, so we should get together, I really miss getting to see you all the time," she suggests.

"I agree, how about we go out from ice cream or something sometime soon?" Miley replies, wanting to see her friend just as much as Mandy wants to see her.

"Sounds like a plan, just text me whenever and I'll be ready to go," she says.

"Okay, I'll be counting on that," Miley says, starting to walk back into the house.

"Well, it was good hearing from you darling but I've got to go get ready for a little shopping trip, but I'll talk to you again soon, kay?" Mandy says.

"Absolutely, bye," Miley says. Mandy exchanges her own goodbye and Miley shuts her phone. She walks swiftly back into the living room and plops back down next to Nick.

"What do you want to watch now? This show looks boring," Nick says, wrapping his arm around Miley as he looks blankly at the television screen, not understanding the concept of the show that had just come on.

"I don't care, I'm not really watching it that much anyways," she says, snuggling up to his chest.

**later.**

The couple still lay rested on the couch, but now Miley has dozed off while Nick softly strokes her hair and watches TV. Not a long time after Miley has finally captured the darkness Nick hears her phone buzzing on the couch. He softly shakes her body.

"Miles, your phone is ringing," he whispers into her ear, shaking her body again. She slowly comes back to life, fluttering open her eyelids as she looks up at Nick.

"What is it?" she asks, slightly groggy from her sleep.

"Your phone is ringing," he tells her again. Miley sets up on the couch and grabs her phone, a confused look taking over her face as she looks at the unknown number. She flips open her phone and puts it next to her ear.

"Hello?" she questions.

"Hi Miley, this is Michael, I'm calling about the job that you interviewed for a while back," the man on the line says. Miley's eyes widen and she sits up straighter, as if that will help something. "I'm sorry that it's taken so long for me to call you but we've been pretty busy down here and I've just now though of calling you up. We here at the café have decided that we would like to hire you, and more than likely we will have you working as a waitress, does that sound like a deal to you?" the man continues.

"Yes, of course. When do you want me to start?" she asks, biting down on her lip as she tries to keep the excitement in.

"I have planned on you working Monday through Thursday then rotating every other Saturday so I would like it if you could start tomorrow," he says.

"Of course, I'll be there," Miley says.

"Great, I'll see you tomorrow Miley," the man ends the conversation. Miley hangs up her phone and looks over at Nick with a gigantic smile on her face.

"I got the job!" she squeals, flopping down on his body as she wraps her arms around him. He returns the gesture, squeezing her body tight.

"I'm so happy for you," he says, leaning down and kissing her on the forehead.

"I can't believe I got it, I was so sure that I hadn't got it but, he just surprised me! Oh, gosh, this is amazing," Miley says, pulling away from Nick's grip a tiny bit to look at him.

"I think this calls from some celebration ice cream, what do you think?" he asks, pulling her up as he gets up from his spot on the couch.

"I think this calls for two scoops of celebration ice cream," Miley says, grinning up at him. He laughs just a little bit.

"Okay, deal, let's go," he says lacing their fingers together as they walk over to the door to put their shoes on.

**A/n: **I really don't like this chapter. It's kind of just a filler to let you know that Miley gets the job, but it's useless at the same time. You probably wouldn't even need to read this chapter in order to read the next chapter, which just so happens to be the last, and I'm super sad about it :(. Oh, Happy (late) Thanksgiving!


	43. Chapter 43

**The Perfect Boyfriend  
Chapter Forty-Three  
The End.  
Disclaimer: Even after all this time, I still own nothing.**

_And she'll let you know…  
You're the Perfect Boyfriend._

Afternoon is the busiest time for any kind of food place, including the little café downtown in that small little town that Miley was waiting tables at. She always dreaded twelve o' clock rolling around, and not for the fact that she would have to work ten times harder but that the more people that swarmed into the café, the better of a chance she had at making a mistake. Her job has been going on for two weeks now and she's really got the hang of it, only messing up on one order so far. But that one order that she messed up on made her never want to mess up again. You always hear that people from small towns are friendly, everybody knows everybody and every person you meet is a friend, no one's a stranger, but no matter where you go, or how nice you are, there are always people that will have a temper, especially if their order is messed up.

Miley stands beside the counter, listening as the bell dings, announcing that yet another person has entered the café that she needs to get to. She takes a deep breath and opens her eyes, waking herself up from the calm state that she was in just seconds ago, immediately taking out her little notebook and walking over to the table that the couple just sat down at.

"Hi, my name's Miley, I'll be your waiter today. May I take your order?" she says robotically, that line is one that she never messes up. She just says it too many times a day for there to ever be a mistake. She waits patiently as they process in their heads what they want. Then as the words start flowing from their mouths she swiftly writes down the correct meal order. "It'll be just a few minutes," she announces, smiling brightly at them before walking about and back toward the kitchen. She slides the paper under a clip and looks over just in time to see a cook sliding two plates filled with food through the slot. She goes over and grabs the two plates, instantly remembering who ordered the food without having to even glance at the ticket. She balances the plates in her hands steadily and walks them over to the table, sitting them down with a bright smile. "Enjoy," she says, watching as they smile back before she walks away.

After the afternoon rush, she lets out a deep breath of relief. As always, she hears the doorbell chime at exactly one thirty; her friends have arrived. They don't come together every day but usually at least one of them come to check up on her after the lunch time grab. She looks over to see all of her closest friends piling through the doors of the tiny café. They seat themselves, and Miley walks over, her smile even brighter now.

"Hello there beautiful," Nick says, looking up at his girlfriend with a giant smile on his face.

"Hey," she blushes, going over to him as she gives him a quick hug. "So, as you all know, my name is Miley and I'll be your waiter today, what do you all want to eat?" she asks.

"I'm pretty sure that's not what you're supposed to say Miles," Brandi says, giggling.

"Oh shush up and just tell me what you want to eat so I can take my break," she says. They all tell her what they want and she takes the order back to the back, waits for the order patiently then takes the plates back to them, sitting down in the empty chair beside Nick. "Ahh, it feels so good to sit down," she says.

"Rough lunch time?" Mandy asks, looking over at her best friend as she takes a bite of her sandwich.

"As always," she says, falling back in her chair, letting her feet have a rest. "Oh, and by the way Michael was saying that he's available to interview you next Wednesday at twelve if you can make it," Miley tells her best friend, ready for her to get the interview over with and start working with her. Not only would there be a lot less work but she would have someone to joke around with in the back and talk to while they wait on their orders.

"Of course I can, I'm ready to get started," Mandy says, smiling from ear to ear. She recently quit her job at the bar because Michael told Miley that he was going to be opening up a position for another waitress.

"Me too, it's going to be so much fun!" Miley squeals, her eyes squinting up as she does so.

"Agreed," Mandy replies, leaning across the table as she gives Miley a high-five.

**6:00.**

Tonight is the night that Tish gets to come home from rehab, having made a full recovery. Miley is on her way home after staying over at work to help clean up and everyone else is already at the house waiting on Tish's arrival. The house is filled with balloons and there are mounds of food and cake on the kitchen counter. And hanging on the wall of the living room, the first thing that you will see is a big bright banner with the words 'Welcome Home'.

The group hangs around for about thirty minutes before Miley makes it home from work. She enters through the house, an amazed look on her face. "I can't believe you all did this, she's going to love it!" she gushes, looking around the room then entering into the kitchen to look at the placement of the food. "Gosh, this is just … wonderful," she continues, amazed by what her little group of friends was able to pull off for her mother.

"Brandi should be back in a just a few minutes, she left to go get your mom an hour ago," Mandy informs her best friend as she walks up to her. Miley smiles at her.

"Gosh, I can't wait to see her," Miley says, "What do you think she'll be like?" Miley asks Mandy, looking at her friend with questioning eyes.

"I think she'll be just like her old self," Mandy says.

"I hope so," Miley says, a slight sigh escaping from her mouth. Mandy's smile fades just a tiny bit as she looks down at Miley, she quickly wraps her arms around Miley.

"Everything's going to be fine Miles, I mean, look at how great you're doing right now, and your mom's been in rehab for months now. Even if she's not completely herself right now, when she sees how wonderful this place looks and how good _you_ look, there's no way that she won't be able to be your mother again," Mandy tells her. Miley's face brightens a little bit, her smile returning.

"Thanks Mands, I really needed that," Miley says.

A few minutes later the front door opens and Brandi walks in with Tish's arm locked with hers. Miley looks at her body first, noticing how her bones were no longer poking through and she looked like a healthy adult, like she used to. Then she slowly looked up at her face, immediately smiling at the sight. Her face is no longer pale and way too skinny, but it has a pinkish tint to it and her face is fully, just like it used to be. And there's that smile, the smile that Miley shows often, the smile that Miley loves as well as everyone else in the world. That was definitely her mom.

Miley doesn't waste any more time just looking at her, she quickly walks over to Tish and wraps her arms around her. "Oh my gosh, mom I'm so glad to see you," Miley says, a tear slipping free from her eye. She smiles even brighter when she feels her mom's hand slip around her waist and squeeze her body.

"Me too, Miley, me too," Tish says, squeezing Miley's body even tighter.

The reunion continued on, hugs were given, people chatted, and the food was devoured. After several hours people slowly started to file out of the house, leaving behind the remains of the party decorations and empty bowls with only bites of food left in them.

Miley begins placing the empty dishes into the dishwasher while her mom is laying on the couch, exhausted from the day. Miley giggles lightly when she feels arms wrap around her waist and she turns around in Nick's muscular arms, looking up at him with a smile on her face.

"Hello there," she says, lightly pecking his lips.

"I feel like I haven't saw you all day," he says, brining her body closer to his as he places a soft kiss on her forehead.

"I know, I've been busy, I'm sorry," Miley replies, snuggling her head into his chest. "Let's go up to my room, I want to lay down," she says, getting out of his grip. She quickly shuts the door to the dishwasher and walks up to her room, Nick trailing behind her.

Miley flops down on the bed, letting her eyes flutter close for a few seconds. Nick crawls onto the bed, placing himself behind her. Miley situates herself, grabbing hold of his hand and playing with his fingers.

"Do you think your mom enjoyed herself today?" Nick asks her.

"Yeah, she just looked so happy, and she's herself again and I just… I'm so happy that things are back to the way they were before," Miley says, a bright smile planted on her face.

"Good, I'm glad everything's going better for you," Nick says, placing his lips on her head.

"You know," Miley says thoughtfully, "I never believed that anyone could be perfect, but with everything that you've put up with for me and how well you've handled it all, I just, I can honestly say that you're a perfect boyfriend," she finishes, twisting her head around to look at him.

"You're crazy," he chuckles.

"No, I'm serious Nick, anyone would be lucky to have you, everyone wishes for a boyfriend like you, you're perfect," she says, turning around in his lap so that she can look at him full on. "And I love you," she whispers, leaning down and placing a sweet kiss on his pink lips. After she pulls away, he leans back up and returns the kiss.

"I love you too, so much," he says, wrapping his arms around her waist and letting her body lay in a comfortable position on his. He places his lips on her head, letting them rest there for the time being.

**The End…**

**A/n: **So, it's over. After all this time. I'm sad and happy at the same time, this story has accomplished so much more than I ever thought it would. I was aiming for two hundred reviews when I started and look, I've gotten well over 500. Thank you all so much for being patient with me, because I know I'm the suckiest updater there is. And I especially want to thank all of you that have stuck by this story from the very beginning, :) I love you guys.**  
As for future stories; **I've began writing on a new story, it's going to be much shorter than my usual stories. I'm claiming it as a 'mini story'. But I'm really liking where it's going so far. I'm not sure when I put it up, I want to make sure that I'm going to be able to actually write it, and not get bored with it before I put it up. But I'm hoping that when I publish it that you all will read it:).


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